Quality of enoki mushrooms as affected by packaging conditions

From the paper

Abstract

Fresh enoki mushrooms (100 g) were packaged under various conditions and stored at 10 degrees C for 14 days. Package atmosphere, weight loss, stipe elongation, surface colour and sensory quality of the mushrooms were measured during storage. Different levels of initial vacuum application did not have a significant influence on the in-package atmosphere after 2 days. The half-vacuum package was best in terms of quality preservation of the fresh mushrooms. A polyolefin film with respective gas permeabilities of 166 and 731 ml m-2 h-1 atm-1 to O2 and CO2 established an equilibrated atmosphere of 1.7-2.4% O2 and 4.1-5.6% CO2 inside the package at 10 degrees C. This polyolefin film was shown to contribute to preserving the freshness of the mushrooms. Temperature fluctuations between 5 and 15 degrees C did not induce a harmful atmosphere inside the polyolefin package, though high temperatures accelerated the quality loss.