Two most common post harvest
practices and aspects of mushrooms
are: proper packaging and storage for
the fresh mushrooms; and processing
for long-term storage as well as valueaddition.
Market for the fresh
commodities is likely to continue;
reverse trend has already started in
the countries where processed
products were being consumed.
Therefore most important of all, it is
the proper packaging and storage of
the fresh mushrooms which should
receive the attention of all the players
in the field—researchers, growers and
traders. Besides canning, drying,
steeping and pickling currently
resorted to for the long-term storage
and trade, it is the production and
consumption of the readymade or
ready-to-make value-added mushroom
products which have, of late, been
receiving the attention of the
mushroom research and industry.
Mushroom-based soup powder,
noodles and biscuits are already on
the shelves. Technologies for ready-tomake
mushroom pizza, mushroom
curry in retortable pouches, nuggets,
ketchup, preserve in sugar syrup
(murabba) have been developed. The
bulletin aims at giving current status
of the science, art and technology for
the post harvest storage, processing
and value-addition of mushrooms with
special emphasis on the button
mushroom keeping in view its present
production and consumption in the
country. Adoption of proper post
harvest practices of the storage and
processing may partially ameliorate
the problems of marketing of
mushrooms during the peak period