Brennan 2000
Brennan 2000
Brennan 2000
Whole fresh mushrooms were soaked for 10 min in solutions of citric acid or hydrogen peroxide, then sliced, packed and stored at 4 3C
for up to 19 d. Both treatments reduced the number of pseudomonad bacteria and improved the keeping quality of the sliced mushrooms
when compared to control (water soaked) slices. A specixcation of 75 Hunter L units was established to quantify sliced mushroom shelf
life and this showed that the treatments extended the shelf life by about 50%. Treatment ewectiveness varied with mushroom batch, with
xrst and third yush mushrooms from phase III compost responding better than mushrooms from phase II compost and second yush. The
citric acid treatment had no deleterious ewect on the sensory properties of sliced mushrooms.
Keywords: sliced mushrooms; Agaricus bisporus; shelf life; citric acid; hydrogen peroxide
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lwt/vol. 33 (2000) No. 4
solutions prior to slicing is more e!ective, in terms of Pseudomonad bacteria were enumerated by the spread
shelf life, than dipping, spraying or brushing solutions plate technique using Pseudomonas Agar Base (Oxoid
onto sliced mushrooms (15). CM559) incorporating Pseudomonas C-F-C Selective
The aim of the work reported here was to develop Supplement (Oxoid SR103E). The plates were incubated
methods to extend the shelf life of sliced fresh mush- for 48 h at 25 3C and the number of colony forming units
rooms. The e!ects of citric acid and hydrogen peroxide per gram (cfu/g) of mushroom was determined. Due to
treatments on the quality of sliced mushrooms during time constraints, the d 0 samples were tested for
storage are reported. Quality has been measured in terms pseudomonads on d 1.
of colour, texture and bacterial growth. Speci"cations for
quantifying shelf life have been determined to summarize Statistical design. The experimental design was three
the e!ectiveness of the treatments in extending shelf life. solutions;three #ushes;two composts;"ve test d
;two replicates. The results were tested by ANOVA
with 179 degrees of freedom.
Materials and Methods
Ewects of citric acid and hydrogen peroxide on the keeping Quantixcation of mushroom shelf-life
quality of sliced mushrooms Ten packs of sliced mushrooms of di!erent ages were
arranged in order of quality. The mushroom slices were
Mushrooms. Unwashed, whole, white, closed cap mush- shown to 32 panellists who were asked which packs they
rooms (Agaricus bisporus) with caps of about 5 cm d, would buy (at standard price). The colour of mushrooms
grown in bags (16), were obtained from a commercial in each pack was then measured (as above).
grower. Mushrooms from "rst, second and third #ush (a
crop develops in four #ushes in weekly cycles) and from
phase II and III composts were used to identify any Ewect of citric acid treatment on sensory properties of
di!erences in their response to soaking treatments. mushrooms
Mushroom production using phase II compost involves Fresh mushrooms were soaked for 10 min in water (con-
inoculation with mushroom spawn and incubation by trol) or 40 g/L citric acid. The mushrooms were sliced (3
the mushroom grower, while for phase III compost, these mm), then packed as above and stored overnight at 4 3C.
stages are carried out in bulk by mushroom composters. The slices were cooked in a microwave oven, half with
After harvesting, the mushrooms were chilled, trans- butter and half with a garlic-#avoured sun#ower oil
ported and stored at 4 3C for up to 24 h. The method emulsion. Twenty-one taste panellists were presented
below was followed for phase II and phase III mush- with two coded samples cooked in butter, i.e. control and
rooms of #ush 1, then repeated for #ush 2, followed by citric acid treated slices. They were asked which sample
#ush 3, then duplicated. they preferred and why. This was repeated with the
mushrooms cooked with garlic-#avoured oil. The experi-
¹reatments. The mushrooms were soaked for 10 min in ment was repeated on a di!erent day (with a di!erent
a chilled aqueous solution (4 3C) of 40 g/L citric acid, or panel of 21 tasters) with slices cooked (microwaved) with-
50 mL/L hydrogen peroxide (i.e. 167 mL of a 30% [w/w] out additional ingredients (i.e. no fat or water).
hydrogen peroxide solution, with 833 mL water), or dis-
tilled water (control), and then placed on absorbent pa-
per for 2 min to remove excess surface liquid. They were Results
sliced (3 mm wide) in a food processor (Braun model Ewect of treatments on the keeping quality of sliced
4262), then spread on absorbent paper. The slices mushrooms
(60 g/tray) were packed in polystyrene plastic food trays, The e!ects of storage time at 4 3C on the keeping quality
of internal dimensions 19.5;10.5;2.5 cm, and over- of sliced mushrooms treated with water (control), citric
wrapped with perforated polyvinylchloride "lm (XSC acid or hydrogen peroxide are shown in Fig. 1a, b, c and
MPF Filmco; transmission data for PVC "lm: 16000 and d. During storage, the mushroom slices became less
90000 cc/m/24 h for oxygen and carbon dioxide, respec- white, more yellow, tougher, then softer and the number
tively, and 340 g/m/24 h for water vapour), then stored of pseudomonad bacteria on the slices increased. Com-
at 4 3C. pared to the control mushrooms, those treated with citric
acid or hydrogen peroxide had higher mean Hunter
Quality assessment. The mushrooms were monitored for L (P(0.05) and lower mean Hunter b (P(0.001)
aspects of quality after 0, 5, 9, 14 and 19 d storage at 4 3C. values (Fig. 1a, b) and were less soft (P(0.01) (Fig. 1c),
The colour of 10 slices (from two packs) was measured but most bene"t was obtained after 9 d of storage. The
with a calibrated Minolta Chroma Meter (CR-331) using citric acid and the hydrogen peroxide treatments both
CIE illuminant D65 as the light source and Hunter Lab reduced (P(0.001) mean log pseudomonad number
as the colour space. The shear values of 50 g portions of (Fig. 1d). The maximum reduction, of about 100-fold, was
sliced mushrooms were determined using a calibrated on d 1 (Fig. 1d). The e!ect decreased during storage (Fig.
Kramer design T-2000 Texture Test System with a stan- 1d) but remained signi"cant (P(0.05) on each test day.
dard shear compression cell (model CS-1). The mean The citric acid treatment was slightly more (P(0.05)
shear value for duplicate samples was calculated. antibacterial than the hydrogen peroxide treatment.
286
lwt/vol. 33 (2000) No. 4
Fig. 1 E!ect of soaking whole mushrooms for 10 min in Fig. 2 E!ectiveness of treatment with (*䉭*, *䉱*) 40 g/L
(*䊏*) water, (*䉭*) 40 g/L citric acid or (*䊊*) 50 mL/L citric acid and (*䊊*, *䊉*) 50 mL/L hydrogen peroxide
hydrogen peroxide on (a) whiteness, (b) yellowness, (c) shear on maintaining whiteness of sliced mushrooms from
value and (d) pseudomonad concentration, of sliced mush- (*䉭*, *䊊*) phase II or (*䉱*, *䊉*) phase III compost.
rooms stored at 4 3C for up to 19 d. Data points are the mean ? Hunter L value for citric acid or hydrogen peroxide treated
of 12 batches of mushrooms from #ushes one, two and three sliced mushrooms minus Hunter L value for corresponding
from phase II and III compost. Least signi"cant di!erences control sliced mushrooms. Data were from six batches of mush-
(P(0.05) are (a) 3.2, (b) 0.6, (c) 46 and (d) 0.7 rooms from #ushes one, two and three. The least signi"cant
di!erence (P(0.05) is 4.5
287
lwt/vol. 33 (2000) No. 4
Fig. 3 E!ectiveness of treatment with (*䉭*, *䉱*, 2 2) tests, i.e. with butter, and with garlic-#avoured oil. For
40 g/L citric acid and (*䊊*, *䊉*, 2 2) 50 mL/L hydro-
gen peroxide on maintaining whiteness of (*䉭*, *䊊*) #ush mushrooms cooked without fat, 10 panellists out of 21
one, (*䉱*, *䊉*) #ush two and ( 2 2, 2 2) #ush three (i.e. insigni"cant) preferred the control slices. None of the
sliced mushrooms. panellists reported an acidic #avour or a yellow coloured
? Hunter L value for citric acid or hydrogen peroxide treated edge for the treated mushrooms.
sliced mushrooms minus Hunter L value for corresponding
control sliced mushrooms. Data were from four batches of
mushrooms from phase II and III compost. The least signi"cant
di!erence (P(0.05) is 5.4 Discussion
288
lwt/vol. 33 (2000) No. 4
of enzyme activity in the di!erent mushroom batches 2 SAPERS, G. M., MILLER, R. L., MILLER, F. C., COOKE, P. H.
(18). Sapers et al. (2) also found that the response of AND CHOI, S.-W. Enzymatic browning control in minimally
processed mushrooms. Journal of Food Science, 59,
mushrooms to browning inhibitors depended on the 1042}1047 (1994)
initial condition of the mushroom. This variability could 3 GORMLEY, T. R. AND MACCANNA, C. Prepackaging and
cause concern to mushroom processors, however, as the shelf life of mushrooms. Irish Journal of Agricultural Re-
citric acid or hydrogen peroxide treatments are most search, 6, 255}265 (1967)
e!ective for poorer quality sliced mushrooms and least 4 JOLIVET, S., VOILAND, A., PELLON, G. AND ARPIN, N. In:
ELLIOTT, T. J. (Ed.), Science and Cultivation of Edible Fungi,
e!ective for better quality sliced mushrooms, it follows <olume 2 2 Proceedings of the 14th International Congress
that the treatments will balance out natural variation in on the Science and Cultivation of Edible Fungi, Oxford, 17}22
shelf life, thus giving more consistency. Furthermore, the September 1995. Rotterdam: Balkema, pp. 695}702 (1995)
treatments were always antibacterial and so compliance 5 GORMLEY, R. Chill storage of mushrooms. Journal of the
with microbiological speci"cations should be attainable. Science of Food and Agriculture, 26, 401}411 (1975)
6 BRENNAN, M. H. Moisture control * post-harvest. Food
When consumers select prepacked sliced mushrooms, & Horticulture, 4, 11}12 (1999)
they have to choose by appearance alone, i.e. mainly 7 BRENNAN, M. H., LE PORT, G., PULVIRENTI, A. AND GOR-
colour. This is one reason why whiteness value is a suit- MLEY, R. The e!ect of sodium metabisulphite on the white-
able indicator for quantifying shelf life. Also, mushroom ness and keeping quality of sliced mushrooms. ¸ebensmittel-
colour is a!ected by both enzymatic and microbial =issenschaft und-¹echnologie 32, 460}463 (1999)
8 BRENNAN, M. H., SIREYJOL, J. AND GORMLEY, R. Optimis-
browning, and is linked to textural changes because they ing the use of activated Purogene for sliced mushrooms. ¹he
are related to ageing and microbial growth. Challenge of Change2Proceedings of the 2nd All Ireland
This study only concerned sliced mushrooms; citric acid Mushroom Conference, Monaghan, 2, 98 (1999)
would not be suitable for whole mushrooms because it 9 BURTON, K. Keeping mushrooms fresh after harvest.
causes yellowing of the mushroom surface. When sliced, Grower, 14}17 (1988)
10 KUYPER, L., WEINERT, I. A. G. AND MCGILL, A. E. J. The
this was not a problem; the taste panellists indicated that e!ect of modi"ed atmosphere packaging and addition of
the citric acid treatment had no detrimental e!ect on the calcium hypochlorite on the atmosphere composition, col-
organoleptic properties of cooked mushroom slices. The our and microbial quality of mushrooms. ¸ebensmittel-=is-
e!ect of the hydrogen peroxide treatment on sensory senschaft und-¹echnologie, 26, 14}20 (1993)
properties of sliced mushrooms was not assessed here as 11 LOPEZ-BRIONES, G., VAROQUAUX, P., BUREAU, G. AND
PASCAT, B. Modi"ed atmosphere packaging of common
it has not been approved as a food additive in the Euro- mushroom. International Journal of Food Science and ¹ech-
pean Communities. Studies in the U.S.A., where hydro- nology, 28, 57}68 (1993)
gen peroxide has GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) 12 ROY, S., ANANTHESWARAN, R. C. AND BEELMAN, R. B.
status, showed that it, also, had no e!ect on mushroom Fresh mushroom quality as a!ected by modi"ed atmo-
#avour (2). sphere packaging. Journal of Food Science, 60, 334}340
(1995)
13 LOPEZ-BRIONES, G., VAROQUAUX, P., CHAMBROY, Y., BOU-
QUANT, J., BUREAU, G. AND PASCAT, B. Storage of common
Acknowledgement mushroom under controlled atmospheres. International
Journal of Food Science and ¹echnology, 27, 493}505 (1992)
14 ROY, S., ANANTHESWARAN, R. C. AND BEELMAN, R. B.
This study was part-funded by grant aid under the Food Sorbitol increases shelf life of fresh mushrooms stored in
Sub-programme of the Operational Programme for In- conventional packages. Journal of Food Science, 60,
dustrial Development. This programme was adminis- 1254}1259 (1995)
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16 SULLIVAN, C. Introduction to Mushroom Growing in Bags.
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17 BRENNAN, M. H. AND GORMLEY, R. The e!ect of #ush and
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