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In order to study the effect of modified atmosphere storage on extending shelf life of mushrooms, oyster mushroom and Shiitake were wrapped with polyethylene film (PE, 50 pm), and stored at 0.5℃ . Mushrooms packed with conventional hardboard box (4 kg) lost marketability within 5∼6 days due to weight loss, shrinkage, browning, spore formation and/or mycellium growth. PE-packing could prevent or retard the deterioration of the mushrooms in the aspects of appearance, texture, discoloration, and microbial contamination. This situation can be best characterized by the reduced respiration rate resulted from the elevated level of carbon dioxide and the reduced level of oxygen in the bag. Although the appearance of the oyster mushroom was maintained for one month, its shelf life was limited to 15 days because of tissue softening. Discoloration of the pileus of shiitake mushroom appears to be the most important factor to determine its marketability. For example, extension of shelf life of Dongo was limited to 15 days, principally due to the browning of the pileus. Shelf life of Hawgo whose color of the pileus changed little over the experimental period, however, could be extened to more than one month.
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