Effects of Storage Environmental Conditions on Weight Loss, Whiteness Change, and Microbial Activity of Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus)

The effects of storage temperature and high relative humidity (RH) on the weight loss, color change, and microbial activity of a mushroom ('Sylvan' hybrid white) were investigated. The experiment was performed at three temperature (5, 10 and $15^{\circ}C$) and four different relative humidity levels (91, 94, 97 and 99%). The weight loss of the tested samples had a highly correlated linear relationship with storage time at each RH level during storage. Both the storage temperature and RH levels in the experiment had signigicant effects (p<0.05) on the weight-loss rate of the tested samples. The loss whiteness of mushrooms was not significantly affected (p>0.05) by RH ranges at the same temperature. No visible damage was caused by either bacteria or fungi in all samples during storage.