Key Points of Preservation, Storage and Transportation Technology for Export Shiitake Mushrooms

1. Moisture removal

Freshly picked shiitake mushrooms have a relatively high moisture content and must undergo moisture removal treatment.

(1) Sun drying. Place the fresh mushrooms on a drying rack, with the caps tilted upward and arranged evenly. Drying time: 3-6 hours for autumn and winter mushrooms; 6-7 hours for spring mushrooms; 1-2 hours for summer mushrooms.

(2) Hot air moisture removal. Spread the mushrooms evenly on a drying rack with the caps facing down, place them in a homemade hot air rotary kiln, and remove moisture in a 40°C environment.

(3) Use a moisture removal machine. For fresh mushrooms after moisture removal, when using large packaging, the moisture content must be 70%-80%; when using small packaging, the moisture content can be 80%-90%.

2. Storage

Put fresh shiitake mushrooms with moisture content meeting the standard into plastic baskets and move them into a cold storage at 1-4°C. Before shipment, grade, trim the stems, weigh, and place them back in the cold storage for 2 hours, then they can be packaged according to customer requirements in two sizes, large and small.

3. Packaging

Mushrooms with a cap diameter of 6 cm or more are Grade L, those with a diameter of 5 cm or more are Grade M, and those with a diameter of 4 cm or more are Grade S. For large packaging, use transparent non-toxic film bags. After the fresh mushrooms are loaded, vacuum-seal them, then move them into insulated plastic foam boxes, and pack them externally in corrugated cardboard boxes. Each box has a net weight of 5 kg or 10 kg. For small packaging, place the fresh mushrooms on special trays in plastic boxes, with 4-8 mushrooms per box. The gills must face upward and be arranged neatly, with each box having a net weight of 100 g. Then seal with plastic cling film and pack into cardboard boxes. Seal the corrugated cardboard boxes with tape and mark the grade, weight and shipping date, etc. Store in cold storage pending shipment.

4. Transportation

After the fresh mushrooms are packed, they should be shipped promptly. When the temperature is below 15°C, ordinary vehicles can be used for transport; otherwise, refrigerated vehicles (1-3°C) must be used. Under different temperature conditions, the preservation time of shiitake mushrooms also varies. At 1°C, they can be kept fresh for 18 days; at 6°C, 14 days; at 15°C, 7 days. The higher the temperature, the shorter the preservation time.