Postharvest treatment with GABA to maintain nutritional quality and improve shelf life of fresh cut of Agaricus bisporus

In order to investigate the effect of GABA postharvest treatment on storage life and nutritional quality of fresh cut button mushroom, mushrooms treatment with five concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 mM) of GABA done, and stored in the refrigerator for 15 days at a temperature of 4 °C and a relative humidity of 90±5 %, and the mushroom were sampled on days 0, 5, 10 and 15. The results showed that the concentration of 1 mM GABA had a greater effect on reducing the browning index of fresh cut button mushrooms than other concentrations of GABA. Reduction of electrolyte leakage and accumulation of malondialdehyde was observed in fresh cut mushrooms treated with a concentration of 1 mM GABA, which reduced weight loss in these mushrooms. High activity of phenylalanine ammonialyase enzyme in mushroom treated with 1 mM GABA increased the content of phenolic compounds which was associated with decreased activity of polyphenol oxidase enzyme. An increase in antioxidant capacity was observed in 1 mM GABA-treated mushrooms, which was accompanied by a significant increase in ascorbic acid accumulation in these mushrooms. Therefore, GABA as a safe and effective method can be used to increase the shelf life of fresh cut button mushrooms.