*2.1. Preparation of Plant Material and Treatments*

Green bean pods (*Phaseolus vulgaris* L., variety Hama) were harvested from a local private farm and transferred under cooling condition (4 ◦C) within two hours to the postharvest laboratory. Green bean pods free from defects and damage, with uniform diameter and length, were prepared by cutting the two ends of the pod with a sterile sharp knife. The fresh-cut green bean pods were immersed in four different treatment solutions:


The control group left without any treatment. TTO and PMO concentrations were prepared by dissolving the required amounts of oils in 50 mL of 0.05 mL Tween-20 and then sterile distilled water was added to obtain 1000 mL of desire concentrations. The treated samples were then dried in a laminar airflow hood for 2 h, and then packed and sealed in micro-perforated (five perforations/cm2, perforation diameter 0.7 mm) polypropylene bags by using autoclaved forceps. The dimensions of the bags were as follows: length 22 cm, breadth 16.5 cm, and 1 mm thickness; the bags contained 250 g of samples each. Samples were stored at 5 ◦C and 90% RH for 15 d. Each treatment was carried out in triplicate and the whole experiment was repeated. For each treatment, samples were divided into two groups. One group was used to determine weight loss, decay, and general appearance throughout full storage time and the other was used to determine pod quality parameters (firmness and TSS), chemical compounds (vitamin C, TPC, and chlorophyll content), mould, yeast, and total microbial count. All parameters were measured at time intervals of 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 d after treatments.
