Postharvest quality losses of fruits and vegetables during storage are global horticultural problems. This study evaluates the effect of gamma irradiation doses (0, 300, 600 and 900 Gy) on quality parameters and phytochemical content of strawberry fruits during storage periods at 10 C. The data revealed the irradiation significantly reduced the fruits weight loss and decay rate at storage periods; in comparison with control (unirradiated sample) which gave the maximum value of these quality parameters. Neither radiation treatment nor storage period had significant effect on titratable acidity and pH of fruits. All treatments decreased vitamin C levels during storage but the anthocyanin contents increased gradually during the storage period and reached its highest values near the end of the storage period. Strawberry fruits treated with 600 Gy had the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant activity followed by 300 Gy. Irradiation stimulated the biosynthesis of some phenolic compounds such as, pyrogallol, gallic, catechol, chlorogenic and ellagic acid.

Moringa oleifera is grown all over the world as a crop for its nutritious pods, leaves and seeds. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the oil percentage, density, iodine value, saponification value, acid value and fatty acid profile of Egyptian moringa Seed oils. Moringa seeds were irradiated using 60Co at dose levels of 0.0 (control), 5, 10 and 15 kGy and oil was extracted from unirradiated and irradiated samples. Results showed that the oil percentage and density were almost unaffected. Irradiation reduced the iodine value, whereas the acid and saponification values were increased in all irradiated samples. The oil was found to contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially an omega‐9‐fatty acid (oleic) (up to 76.29 %) at a dose level of 15 kGy. Also at the same dose level, the dominant saturated acids were palmitic, stearic acid and arachidic (the three up to 12.66 %). GC–MS revealed the presence of different compounds (more than 50) in the moringa oil extract, among them alkaloids, terpenoids steroids, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons and polyphenolic compounds. Phenolic and falvonoid were significantly increased by increasing irradiation dose levels. Also, the antioxidant activity of irradiated seed oil increased by increasing the phenolic and flavonoid contents. Moringa oleifera could be grown by wide scale production as a potentially valuable crop. However, isolation of individual compounds and their biological activities needs to be covered in future to enhance its pharmacological importance and to open new avenues of research.

The effect of gamma irradiation (100, 200, and 300 Gy) and NaCl (60 and 120 mM) on peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activities in Sids-1 and Sakha-93 wheat cultivars were investigated. POD and PPO activities increased significantly with increasing NaCl concentrations, and the maximal activity increased at 120 mM NaCl, while PPO activity was higher than POD at the same concentration of NaCl in both the two cultivars. POD and PPO isozymes profile revealed a total of six bands, whereas all of them are variable and exposed the effect of gamma ray and sodium chloride with different genetic response of the two wheat cultivars. The expression level of POD gene in Sakha-93 cultivar was more than in Sids-1. While it was more pronounced at 120 mM NaCl combined with gamma irradiation dose 300 Gy. Gamma ray can be used as a useful tool for gene expression in plants and salt tolerance could be attributed to the constitutive induced antioxidant gene, leading to more efficient enzyme stimulation and protection in wheat.

The experiment was conducted during two successive seasons 2016 and 2017 on sweet pepper plants to study the effect of foliar application of some natural extracts (fulvic acid at 2, 4 and 6% or algae at 1, 2 and 4 g.L-1) were applied three times along each season (after 2, 4 and 6 weeks of planting). The influence was evaluated through the response of vegetative growth, and some physical and chemical characteristics of sweet pepper fruits. The results obtained showed that the algae extract at 1 g.L-1 in most cases was better than the other spray treatments investigated to improve most fruit characteristics (length, diameter and yield of fruits), vegetative growth, and chemical properties followed by 6% fulvic acid. With regard to organic acids, malic and citric acids are the main organic acids found in sweet pepper. Malic, succinic and glutaric acids were higher in 1 g.L-1 algae extract treatment, but the concentration of citric acid was higher in 6% fulvic acid treatment. Therefore, algae extract and fulvic acid could be safely recommended as a natural biostimulants application for improving most desirable characteristics of sweet pepper grown under the same experimental condition.

Roasting is an important step in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) processing. The current research was undertaken to evaluate the oil content, fatty acid (FA) profiles, andphysicochemical characteristics of oil recovered from sesame roasted by different methods (cooker oven, stovetop pan, microwave, and electric frying pan). Roasting sesame seeds changed their oil content according to the roasting method used, with content ranging from 49.83% in control to 59.85% in the roasting by microwave. In oils recovered from raw or roasted seeds, seven fatty acids were obtained through gas chromatography. Changes in the fatty acid profiles occurred in all the treatments, and the total unsaturated fatty acid content was higher than that of saturated fatty acids. The obtained peroxide number of sesame oils was inside the rate of 3.90 meq/kg oil for microwave treatment versus 1.59 meq/kg oil for unroasted. The highest acid value was with the stovetop pan treatment at 3.78 mg/g, followed by the microwave treatment at 3.24 mg/g; the oven treatment gave the lowest value at 1.66 mg/g. The lowest iodine value was observed with the electric frying pan treatment (102.30/100g oil), and phytosterols were most abundant with the microwave treatment. Moreover, the phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity were the highest with the microwave roasting. The FTIR spectrum illustrated slight differences in peaks intensity (1738, 1454, 1151, 710 cm−1) between the roasting methods used. The finding of the current investigation of roasting methodswas that the fatty acid profiles wereacrossmethods. As is clear from the obtained results, the microwave roasting treatment is the favoured roasting methodfor the healthiest sesame seed oil contents. Sesame seeds are considered a significant and abundant resource with numerous beneficial nutrients that positively affect human health.

Grains of two bread wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum), Sids-1 and Sakha-93, were irradiated with gamma rays at dose levels (0.0, 100, 200, and 300 Gy) to study the effects of gamma irradiation on physiological characteristics and genetic variation of wheat. Irradiation dose level of 200 Gy increased chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll contents significantly in both cultivars. Also, proline content increased with increasing irradiation dose level, the highest concentrations were recorded at 300 Gy for Sids-1 and Sakha-93 cultivars as compared to the control. Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers have been done to help understanding their genetic differences. Eight ISSR primers (14A, 44B, HB-08, HB-10, HB-11, HB-12, HB-13, and HB-15) exhibited polymorphism with the un-irradiated and irradiated two wheat cultivars. These pimers successfully showed different banding patterns with several amplicons varied from 4 for (14A) to 15 for (HB-10). These 72 amplicons for the two cultivars and an average of 9.0 amplicons with mean of 67.96% polymorphism and resolving power (Rp) of 3.41. It is also cleared that radiation is more effective on Sids-1 cultivar with 55.5% polymorphism than on Sakha-93 cultivar with 51.9% polymorphism. Total amplicons found in Sids-1cultivar were 64, ten of them were unique amplicons (UA): 5 UA(+) and 5 UA(−). Irradiation dose (200 Gy) showed the highest number of UA (3 UA− and 3 UA+) in Sids-1cultivar. While, total amplicons found in Sakha-93 cultivar were 58, eight of them were 5 UA(+) and 3 UA(−). Irradiation dose (300 Gy) showed the highest number of UA as 4 UA+. It could be concluded that gamma irradiation of wheat grains produced an appropriate number of generated variations and that ISSR analysis given a useful molecular marker for the symmetry of the mutants.

Effects of gamma rays (0.0, 100, 200 and 300 Gy) and NaCl (0.0, 60 and 120 mM) on the amino acids composition, protein fractions and electrophoretic protein patterns of two Egyptian wheat cultivars (Sids-1 and Sakha-93) were investigated. The results showed that content of amino acids increased by salinity and irradiation doses compared to the control. Concerning, protein fractions of albumin + globulin percentage increased by increasing salinity only and reached the maximum increase by treatment of 120 mM NaCl in the two cultivars. But for glutenin, the highest increase was observed in treatment 100 Gy + 60 mM NaCl. The changes in protein patterns profile were found to be dependent on irradiation dose and salinity level in wheat grains. Total number of protein bands decreased from 20 bands (untreated plants) to 13 bands (irradiated plants) due to treatment of 200 Gy and 60 mM NaCl in Sids-1 cultivar.

Agaricus bisporus mushrooms contain various bioactive substances, the current study aimed to evaluate the effects of gamma-irradiation (1.5, and 2.0 kGy) and essential oils (EOs) fumigation treatments including; geranium (60, and 80 μL L−1) as well as lemongrass (40, and 60 μL L−1) on quality characteristics (color, weight loss, firmness), and microbial properties, as well as total and reducing sugars of mushrooms at 4 °C during storage for 12 days. It was found that 40 μL L−1 lemongrass (L1) showed the highest L* after 12 days of storage so, it gave the greatest impact on reducing browning of mushrooms. Geranium oil (G1) recorded the least increase in weight-loss (3.01 %) after 12 days of storage. Otherwise, the firmness was also significantly inceased in the EOs (60 μL L−1 of geranium and 40 μL L−1 of lemongrass) samples compared to the controls and gamma-rays. The EOs achieved slight increases in TSS% compared with other treatments. Also, total sugar content in all treatments showed an overall reduction with storage time. Gamma-irradiation (1.5, and 2.0 kGy) was more efficient in inhibiting the development of mesophilic and psychrophilic count. While, lemongrass treatment (L2) has the lowest count of fungi at the end of storage (0.5 log10 CFU g−1). The current findings suggest that and EOs (geranium & lemongrass) and gamma-irradiation are a promise process for maintaining the quality of A. bisporus through refrigeration preservation.