Effects of Post-Harvest Applied Chemicals on Some Quality Parameters of Cultivated Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)

Authors: Sami DURA, Yüksel TÜZEL

Abstract: Shelf-life of mushrooms is shorter than the other horticultural crops, so packaging materials and storage temperature have great importance in terms of marketing. However, some chemicals are used in order to keep the white color during the post harvest period but some of them as sodiummetabisulphide may leave residues on the crop. In this research, the optimum sodiummetabisulphide level and possibility of using alternative chemicals were investigated by taking two package materials into consideration. After the harvest, mushrooms were prewashed with sodiummetabisulphide, ascorbic acid, citric acid (at 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%) and sodiumhypochloride (at 0.1%, 200 ppm and 500 ppm) solutions and then stored at 8^0C for 6 days in polyethylene bags and polystren plates. Effects of alternative chemicals on quality parameters were not found significant but the darkening of the color was less in ascorbic acid and sodiumhypochloride treatments. It was determined that mushrooms marketed in polystren plates preserved their color better and for a longer period than polyethylene bags.

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