Vol. 9, Issue 7 (2020)

Author(s):
Savita Kumari, Anupma Kumari, Anupam Adarsh, Kumari Sunita and Hemchandra Chaudhary

Abstract:
The increased demand of button mushroom needs to increase its shelf life as they become unacceptable by consumer after 2-3 days of harvesting due to loss of freshness, off colour & veil opening. Keeping the view to extend the self life of mushroom a trial was conducted in Saraiya block of Muzaffarpur district to evaluate the freshness, colour change & veil opening of button mushroom in different packaging practices. Farmers use the practice of dipping mushroom in the unknown solution of potassium metabisulfite for colour improvement & after surface drying they packed in locally available polythene bag with one or two holes. As potassium metabisulfite should be used in prescribed amount. So 0.05 percent solution was used in another treatment and after removing excess surface water it was packed in 100 gauge polypropylene bag with 5% vent area. Button mushroom in unwashed condition was also taken under study in 2^nd treatment It was found that after first day of storage all the practices showed good result with full freshness, pure white colour with no veil opening. On 2^nd day of storage the farmer’s practice of storage showed better result with pure white colour, whereas sample under treatment 1 & 2 was comparatively less white. But after 3^rd day the result of unwashed mushroom was better with minimum veil opening of 59% until 6^th day when all the sample which were washed in potassium metabisulfite solution damaged totally, whereas unwashed mushroom was slightly fresh. So for longer duration of storage it is better to store mushroom in unwashed condition as it is free from chemicals & beneficial from health point of views.