The Effect of Cinnamon and Persian Hogweed Essential Oils with Chitosan Coating on Physicochemical Properties and Shelf Life Post-Harvest of Agaricus bisporus Mushroom

Agaricus bisporus has the highest production in the world due to its unique flavor and valuable nutritional properties. Due to lack of cuticle, high respiration rate, high humidity, and intense enzymatic activity, they rapidly decay and their discoloration begins immediately after harvest.

The present study was conducted in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments including control, chitosan 2%, chitosan + cinnamon essential oil (2%), chitosan + Persian hogweed essential oil (200 ppm), and chitosan + cinnamon essential oil + Persian hogweed essential oil with 3 replications, and qualitative and biochemical characteristics of Agaricus bisporus on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 were evaluated.

The highest amount of flavonoids was obtained 7 days after storage under the treatment of chitosan + Persian hogweed essential oil. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in the control treatment 21 days after storage. 7 days after storage, the moisture content under the treatment of chitosan + Persian hogweed essential oil and chitosan + cinnamon essential oil and also 14 days after storage in the treatment of chitosan + Persian hogweed essential oil showed a significant increase compared to the control treatment. The highest browning index was obtained 14 days after storage in chitosan and chitosan + Persian hogweed + cinnamon treatments. The highest tissue firmness was observed on day 0 after storage in the control treatment and the lowest amount of firmness was observed on day 21 after storage in control, chitosan, and chitosan + Persian hogweed + cinnamon treatments.

The investigated treatments showed different results on biochemical properties and postharvest shelf life of Agaricus bisporus. In general, cinnamon and Persian hogweed essential oils combined with chitosan have been individually effective on qualitative properties of Agaricus bisporus over shelf life.