Principles and Basic Knowledge of Fresh-Keeping and Processing of Edible Mushrooms

After edible mushrooms are harvested, if the fresh mushrooms are exposed to a dry environment for a long time, they will lose water, the mushroom bodies will shrink strongly and wrinkle, and the texture will become dry and hard; at the same time, due to the after-ripening effect of the mushroom bodies, their physiological activities do not stop, and under the action of certain oxidases (such as polyphenol oxidase), they can promote chemical transformations within the mushroom body tissues, causing accelerated respiration, becoming shriveled, liquefying, losing water, and losing their inherent umami and aroma; in addition, the reproduction and growth of various microorganisms attached to the surface of the mushroom bodies can also cause soft rot, produce a foul odor, and even produce toxic substances, ultimately leading to spoilage and so on.

In order to extend the fresh-keeping time of mushrooms, storing fresh mushrooms under conditions of lower natural temperature and higher environmental humidity, or using artificial methods for cold storage, can both extend the shelf life of mushrooms. Treating fresh mushrooms with certain antioxidants and plant hormones, or lowering the pH value to inhibit enzyme activity, can also appropriately extend the fresh-keeping time. Due to the continuous development of fresh-keeping technology, new fresh-keeping technologies such as frozen preservation, quick-freezing preservation, controlled atmosphere preservation, and radiation treatment have now also appeared, and can achieve better fresh-keeping effects. In cities with relatively concentrated populations, various fresh mushrooms are an important part of enriching the "vegetable basket project." Mastering these new fresh-keeping technologies is of very important significance for developing the domestic fresh mushroom market and improving the economic benefits of growers.

With the development of society and the progress of science and technology, edible mushroom processing technology is changing with each passing day, and the methods are also endlessly varied. At present, the main processing methods include drying processing (sun drying, oven drying, freeze drying, puffing drying, etc.); pickling processing (salting, fermenting, sauce pickling, sweet-and-sour, vinegar pickling, wine pickling, etc.); canning processing; ready-to-eat food processing; flexible packaging processing; fine processing (candied fruit, pastries, rice and flour products, candies, snack foods, etc.); deep processing (beverages, extracts, instant granules, condiments, beauty and cosmetics, etc.) and health-care medicine processing (health wine, capsules, oral liquids, polysaccharide extraction, etc.), etc.