Postharvest Shelf-life Extension of Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus L.) by Aloe vera Gel Coating Enriched with Basil Essential Oil

Abstract

Well-known characteristics of edible mushrooms are their strong nutritional and medicinal properties which help developing the immune system regulation. Mushroom contains low calorie and little fat and offers lots of fiber, amino acid, potassium, vitamins, iron, and even a protein. As a result, dietitians recommend mushroom as an ingredient in a healthy basket food. White button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus L.) are the most common typical example of mushrooms with unique flavor. They exhibit superior free radical scavenging and antioxidant activities (Valverde et al., 2015; Muszyńska et al., 2017; Nasiri et al., 2018). However, due to the absence of cuticle which protects them from physical or microbial attacks, mushrooms have a short life span (Gholami et al., 2019). The short shelf life of mushrooms, typically 1–3 days at ambient and 8 days under refrigeration condition, limits their shipping and marketing potential (Qin et al., 2015). Thus, it is trivial that the extension of shelf life of fresh mushrooms, while preserving their quality, is desirable to export/ import grocery companies (Jiang et al., 2013). Serious problems contribute to the postharvest deterioration of mushroom such as browning, moisture loss, softening, and high respiration rate (Zhang et al., 2020). The application of edible coatings has received attention as an effective way to extend the shelf life of fresh products. The edibles coating limit gaseous exchange and moisture loss through fruit and atmosphere by providing an external protective thin layer on the surface and maintain the fruit quality (Thakur et al., 2018; Mohammadi et al., 2021). A. vera gel as a natural edible coating has been recently developed in food productions and pharmaceutical industries due to antimicrobial activity, biochemical and biodegradability properties. Polysaccharide has been found to be able to control these activities (Sánchez-Machado et al., 2017; Jiwanit et al., 2018). A. vera gel contains high polysaccharides and soluble sugars with low lipid contents (0.07–0.42%). It is reported that coating contained both polysaccharide and lipid form more effective barrier to moisture loss and gas permeability compared to polysaccharide-based alone (Hassan et al., 2018; Tzortzakis et al., 2019). Basil essential oil is well known as a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial additive, which is rich in lipid compound and is a good candidate for composition with A. vera gel to reach the coating with high polysaccharidelipid composite coating. Basil plant of Lamiaceae family can grow in various regions with different climates around the world and contain in protein, fatty acid, vitamins, and minerals (Hemalatha et al., 2017; Falowo et al., 2019). The current experiment is carried out to assess the effect of combination of basil oil with A. vera on tissue browning and quality characteristics of button mushroom