Integrated Treatment of CaCl2 , Citric Acid and Sorbitol Reduces Loss of Quality of Button Mushroom (Agaricus Bisporus ) during Postharvest Storage
Because of the short shelf life of button mushroom, its long-term preservation efforts gained momentum. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of chemical dips for quality maintenance of button mushrooms during storage and compared three different treatments: water (CK), T1 (2.5% w/v CaCl2, 0.5% w/v citric acid) and T2 (2.5% w/v CaCl2, 0.5% w/v citric acid, 3% w/v sorbitol). Changes in weight, firmness, color, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (-OH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were determined. As compared to control, T1 and T2 maintained weight, color and texture during storage. Downregulations in H2O2, −OH and MDA contents were observed, whereas the activities of SOD, CAT, POD and APX were increased. T2 was more efficient in maintaining quality and reducing oxidative stress of button mushrooms within 6 days, while T1 showed the same effects for 12 days as compared to CK. Practical Applications Mushrooms are nutritionally and medicinally important and delicate food stuff. Several techniques have been employed for the preservation of mushrooms in order to cater the shorter shelf life problem of mushrooms. The integrated treatment employed in our study showed significant enhancement in the shelf life of mushrooms at 12C for 12 days. From this study, it can be assumed that these treatments can increase the shelf life of mushrooms for 1 week at room temperature and 1 month at 4C. This treatment is considered cost-effective, durable and safe. The components are easily available and have no side effects on food, consumer and environment. Furthermore, it can be introduced in domestic as well as in commercial levels for preservation of mushrooms. It can increase the mushroom shelf life and can decrease mushroom spoilage. This study suggests further investigations about application of this treatment for preservation of other perishable food stuffs.