SHELF LIFE AND STORAGE QUALITY OF WHITE BUTTON MUSHROOMS (AGARICUS BISPORUS) AS AFFECTED BY PACKAGING MATERIAL.

Mushrooms are highly perishable in nature and deteriorate within a day after harvesting due to their high respiration rate and delicate epidermal structure. Consequently, the shelf-life of freshly harvested mushrooms is limited to 1-3 days at ambient condition. Therefore, present study was conducted to investigate effect of packaging materials viz., polypropylene, low density polyethylene, commercially used packages and paper punnets with shrink wrapping on quality of fresh white button mushroom. The freshly harvested mushrooms were washed in different solutions of CaCl2, KMS and NaCl, then packed with different packaging materials and stored at ambient (22+2° C) and refrigerated (4+2° C) conditions. The mushroom packed in polypropylene after washing with 0.5 % CaCl2 + 0.5 % KMS + 0.5 % NaCl had good retention of colour, texture after 3 days of storage at both ambient and refrigerated conditions. Weight loss occurred in all packages after 3 days of storage, which was higher at ambient condition as compared to refrigerated condition. A gradual decrease in the total phenolic content of packed mushroom was recorded with increase in the storage interval. While on the basis of colour and texture the mushroom treated as above and stored at refrigerated condition was acceptable up to 6 days of storage. Hence, polypropylene could be successfully used for packing of fresh mushrooms to increase their shelf-life as well as to maintain their quality during storage.