| Abstract |
After the Agaricus bisporus crop matures, it can be subject to various injuries, bruising, and quality degrading elements, both during and after harvest. Some of these degradation indicators include discoloration, browning, moisture loss, texture softening, and nutrient or flavor loss. These can happen due to internal factors such as the respiration rate, microbial activity, or water activity of the mushroom itself, or due to external factors such as the temperature, relative humidity, or mechanical damage that the crop may be subjected to. In order to avoid these degradation incidents, the grower must implement good harvest and postharvest technologies. Luckily, the grower has a plethora of options to choose from. The process begins by harvesting the mature crop, which can be done manually or mechanically, or can even be conducted robotically. The crop must then be sorted into many grades according to different criteria, such as size, color, maturity, and range of damage. The graded crop now must be preserved in order to extend its shelf life, which can be accomplished through thermal (cooling or drying), physical (packaging, canning, or treating with irradiation or pulsed electric field), or chemical (washing, coating, or treating with ozone or oxidized water) processes. In order to extend their shelf life for a longer time, the fresh mushrooms can also be processed into novel value-added products such as food products and additives, beverages, beauty products, or dietary supplements. After the crop is used, the spent mushroom substrate or the waste by-product of the cultivation of A. bisporus, which consists of the substrate plus the cultivated mycelium, must be eliminated. The most environmentally friendly way this is done is to incorporate it into various other industries, which can further contribute to a more circular economy. Spent mushroom substrate can be reused in the agricultural sector in compost production, in the production of other mushrooms, as a feed source for various animals, as a mulching or bulking agent, or as an alternative pesticide. It can also be used as a source of energy, to extract enzymes and bioactive molecules for other industries, and for bioremediation purposes. Other cultivation by-products of A. bisporus include the spent mushroom stipes which can also be subjected to the extraction of various value-added compounds for their reuse in various industries. This chapter expands on all the above topics and adds insights into various mushroom characteristics that govern some of the listed harvest and postharvest technologies. |