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In this study, turnip slices was osmotic dehydrated in rosella extract for polyphenolic enrichment purpose which further dried using hot air drying technique. Osmotic process variables were the concentration of sucrose solution (30, 50 and 70 %), process time (40, 75 and 105 min) and the solution temperature (60, 70 and 80°C). The quality of osmotic dehydration-enrichment step was evaluated by measuring water loss, solid gain, weight reduction and phenolic compounds absorption. All variable were effective on measured parameters. Optimized osmotic condition were 35% of sucrose concentration, 105 min for process time and temperature of 80°C to reach the most desirable responses including maximum water loss and weight reduction and phenolic compounds absorption as well as minimum solid gain. Processed turnip slices at optimum condition were then air dried at 60, 70 and 80°C. Moisture ratio during drying time was measured for every temperature and used for determination of best drying kinetic model. 10 models were fitted to experimental data and the fitting quality was evaluated using statistical parameters. It was found that two term models predicts the moisture changes well. Effective diffusion coefficient s were 1.83E-9, 2.03E-9 and 3.04E-9 for 60, 70 and 80°C drying temperatures respectively. Arrhenius model was used for activation energy determination and it calculated as 25.12 Kj/mol. 
 

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Cucumber fruits have a short shelf life in the post-harvest stage due to high water content, high metabolic activity, and spoilage caused by the growth of microorganisms. In this research, the effects of putrescine (0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM) and chitosan (0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5%) on some characteristics of cucumber fruit during storage at 12±1 degrees Celsius during storage (0, 10, and 20 days) and one day at 25 degrees Celsius was investigated. The results showed that chitosan and putrescine significantly prevent weight loss, maintain total soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, firmness, total chlorophyll of skin, and ascorbic acid and improve the sensory quality of cucumber fruit during storage. The lowest weight loss and the highest firmness were obtained in the treatment of 1.5% chitosan and 2 mM putrescine at 10 and 20 days of storage. Also, the highest amount of soluble solids, titratable acidity, total chlorophyll, vitamin C, total antioxidant, total phenol, and the lowest amount of pH, and decrease in sensory quality in 10 and 20 storage times related to the treatments of 1.5% chitosan and 2 mM putrescine that showed a significant difference with the control treatment. 1% and 1.5% chitosan coating treatments showed no significant difference in other traits measured during storage, except for weight loss. It seems that pretreatment of putrescine (2 mM) and chitosan coating (1 to 1.5%) can maintain the quality of fruits for a more extended period while increasing the storage life of cucumber.
 

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Astragalus gymnolobus Fischer (Leguminosae family) is an endemic plant to Turkey. Firstly, an in vitro regeneration system was achieved using leaf and petiole explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different cytokinins [Thidiazuron (TDZ), Kinetin (KIN), Benzyladenine (BA)], auxins [Indole-3-Butyric Acid (IBA), Indole-3-Acetic Acid (IAA), 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA)] and Gibberellic Acid (GA₃) at diverse concentrations. Best shoot formation was obtained with leaf explants and only TDZ alone or TDZ and IAA combinations were effective for shoot forming. The best shoot inducing response (17.60 shoots per explant at 23.81% shoot frequency) was recorded at 0.5 mg L^-1 TDZ alone. Among the TDZ stand-alone treatments, 0.05 and 0.1 mg L^-1 TDZ were also effective in terms of shoot induction frequency (31.82 and 30.43%, respectively). Root formation was obtained after 3 months (3.5 roots per shoot with 77.8% root frequency) only in auxin free MS medium (control) when regenerated shoots were cut off 0.5-1 cm from the base to exclude the callus part. This study also aimed to determine and compare the antibacterial and antioxidant properties and phenolic composition of in vitro-regenerated and field-grown A. gymnolobus. The results revealed that field-grown leaves generally showed higher biological activities and had higher amounts of phenolic compounds. Furthermore, A. gymnolobus leaves were noteworthy sources of rutin. This initial in vitro culture protocol for endemic A. gymnolobus is valuable for genetic resources conservation and can be used in stress application studies to increase the level of phenolic substances in in vitro-grown plants.