Effect of gamma and electron beam irradiation on the physico-chemical and nutritional properties of mushrooms: a review

The short shelf-life of mushrooms is an obstacle to the distribution and marketing of the fresh product. Thus, prolonging postharvest storage, while preserving their quality, would benefit the mushroom industry as well as consumers. There has been extensive research on finding the most appropriate technology for mushrooms preservation. Gamma, electron-beam and UV irradiation have been shown to be potential tools in extending the postharvest shelf-life of fresh mushrooms. Studies evaluating the effects of ionizing radiation are available mainly in cultivated species such as Agaricus bisporus, Lentinus edodes and Pleurotus ostreatus. This review comprises a comprehensive study of the effects of irradiation on physico-chemical parameters (weight, colour, texture and pH), chemical compounds including nutrients (proteins, sugars and vitamins) and non-nutrients (phenolics, flavonoids and flavour compounds), and on biochemical parameters such as enzymatic activity of mushrooms for different species and from different regions of the world.The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support to the research centers CIMO (PEst-OE/AGR/UI0690/2011) and REQUIMTE (PEst-C/EQB/ LA0006/2011). A.S. Fernandes and A.L. Antonio thank FCT, POPHQREN and FSE for their Grants (SFRH/BD/76019/2011 and SFRH/ PROTEC/67398/2010, respectively)