April 24, 2014
Philippine study reveals mushroom extract prolongs shrimp shelf life
Crustaceans and fish shelf life can be prolonged for up to four days in room temperature by mushroom extract, a powerful anti-oxidant, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said.
"Not only the extract is effective to seafood but also to meat (such as pork and chicken) which prevents the blackening of the meat from the oxidation process," Angel B. Encarnacion, officer in charge of the postharvest and marketing division of the BFAR in Cagayan Valley, said during his presentation organised by the National Academy of Science and Technology, an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology.
The price of blackened crustaceans can be reduced into half, even after only one day from harvest, the scientist said.
Encarnacion said the practical application of his research on the utilisation of extract from an edible mushroom to control melanosis and lipid oxidation in farmed crustaceans and fish is an answer to key issues on food security, particularly on safety, quality and waste utilisation.
His paper, an offshoot of an earlier finding that he co-authored with three foreign scientists in 2011, investigated the effectiveness of locally grown mushroom extract in arresting the melanosis, or blackening of the shrimp and fish, after being packed for delivery.
Enzyme assays, or tests, showed that ESH-rich velutipes mushroom extract is an effective natural alternative to synthetic or chemical melanosis-inhibiting agents to prevent post-mortem melanosis in crustaceans.
The BFAR official also said that by simply immersing live full-grown black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) and Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in a solution of mushroom extract for one hour significantly decreased polyphenoloxidase activity in shrimp, which allow for setting of the oxidation.
Encarnacion declined to name the locally grown mushroom variety he used and the actual formulation and saturation of the extract to water, pending his application for patent, but added that, at this early, he was already helping a group of farmers in Cagayan Valley.