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The useful shelf life of belly pepper fruit is very short by the loss of visual and tissue quality as well as contamination with microorganisms. The most common microorganisms are effective in the spoilage of pepper are Botrytis, Alternaria and soft fungi and bacterial rottenness. These problems reduce exports and increase waste during post-harvest and transportation phases. At present, a set of chemicals is used to maintain the freshness and quality of crops that can have adverse effects on the consumer. Therefore, in order to reduce post-harvest lesions of belly pepper, in the present study, the effect of ozone gas treatment on storage and some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of pepper as a factorial experiment and in a completely randomized design during 40 days of storage in a warehouse with a temperature of 8 degrees Celsius was studied. The results showed that ozone treated pepper fruits at a concentration of 1 ppm compared to untreated and treated fruits at a concentration of 5 ppm, had lower weight loss, soluble solids and surface mold-yeast rot and higher hardness. In general, it can be concluded that continuous ozone treatment at 1ppm concentration increases shelf life and preserves the quality of sweet pepper fruits.

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Today, packaging in the modified atmosphere is used as one of the newest types of packaging to increase the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Sweet peppers, as a rich source of vitamin C, are one of the most perishable vegetables that require proper transportation and care for shelf life and quality. The shelf life of pepper is limited due to the rapid loss of water during long storage, and the sensitivity to frostbite and common spoilage by Botrytis and Alternaria microorganisms. Therefore, by optimizing the durability of this product, it can be possible to lower a large amount of its waste.
In this study, the effect of packaging in a modified atmosphere with three gas combinations containing a combination of conventional gas (which contains 21% oxygen, 0.03% carbon dioxide and 78% nitrogen), the primary gas composition consists of 10% oxygen, 5% carbon dioxide And 85% nitrogen and secondary gas composition consisting of 5% oxygen, 10% carbon dioxide and 85% nitrogen in polyethylene film and maintaining at 8 °C and 95% relative humidity on some properties of belly pepper was evaluated.
The effects of these treatments were evaluated in a completely randomized design with factorial experiment and three replications on traits such as weight loss, texture hardness, pH and solids content during 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 days after harvest. The results showed that, after each storage period, 5% oxygen treated and 10% carbon dioxide treated treatments were better suited for maintaining quality characteristics for pepper, due to more carbon dioxide and lower respiration, and generally keeping the product in packaging with Modified atmosphere, preserving quality and prolonging its shelf-life

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Drought stress reduces growth and productivity of crops in arid and semiarid regions, such as Iran. Methyl Jasmonate (MeJA) is involved in regulating plants growth and their immune responses. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of MeJA on growth and some physiological responses of summer savory (Satureja hortensis) plant under drought stress condition. Treatments consisted of three levels of drought stress including stress free conditions, mild stress and severe stress, and four concentrations of MeJA (0, 75, 150, and 225 μM). The results showed that drought stress and MeJA application had a significant effect on morphological, physiological, and biochemical parameters. In drought conditions, some growth parameters, namely, relative water content and essential oil yield decreased and antioxidant activity, proline content, and essential oil percentage increased. The results suggest that MeJA application under drought stress can improve growth parameters as well as relative water content, proline content, antioxidant activity, and essential oil percentage and yield. The best protection appeared to be obtained from plants treated with MeJA at 75 μM.

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In the present study, the effect of drying methods on the bioactive compounds of the two salvia spieces,Salviaofficinalis  andsalvia nemorosa,was investigated. The experiment was performed as a factorial experiment with two factors in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The first factor was two species of salvia and the second factor was drying method in 4 levels of shade drying for 144 hours, drying under the sun irradiation for 78 hours and drying in oven at 40 and 70°C for 37 and 6 hours, respectively. With concidering two levels for the first factor and four levels for the second factor, 8 treatments were studied in the experiment. The results showed that the highest extract yield (11%) was obtained from samples which dried in the oven with 70°C and in both species with a higher rate inS.nemorosa. The percentage of weight loss was not affected by drying methods but it affected by species andS.officinalis had the highest weight loss compared to another specie. High value of total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids, total tannin and antioxidant properties of two speiceswere found in samples dried in shade, and the lowest value of these traits were recorded in plants which dried in the oven at 70°C. High contents of phenolic acids including chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid and salvainolic acidwere recorded  in both species which dried at shade condition and the lowest amount were found in samples dried in oven at 70°C. Also, salvainolicacid and rosmarinic acid was recorded at high level of phenolic acids in samples dried at shad condition.By comparing breeded (S. officinalis) and native species (S. nemorosa), it was found that the native species can have outstanding features for domestication, improvement and further research.