A new method to apply and quantify bruising sensitivity of button mushrooms

Mushrooms are prone to develop brown discolouration due to bruising caused by mechanical damage during harvest, which leads to reduced quality of the mushrooms. In order to study the mechanism behind discolouration and to breed for bruise-related browning resistant strains, a high throughput bruise application method and reliable quantification of browning sensitivity is essential. In this study a new bruising device was developed to bruise mushrooms in a fast and reproducible way. The bruising device can apply damage to the cap tissue of button mushrooms by a slip-shear sliding process. The severity of the bruise was quantified with a computer imaging system combined with a newly developed software programme. A protocol was developed to obtain the most reliable and reproducible method to compare browning sensitivity of different Agaricus bisporus strains. For this purpose, the extent of damage applied, time between harvest and bruising, developmental stage of the mushrooms and flushes were taken into account. The new method of bruising and image based quantification was subsequently applied to a collection of wild, commercial and hybrid A. bisporus strains and a distinction could be made between bruise-related browning sensitive mushrooms and tolerant mushrooms.

► Construction of a mushroom bruising device to damage the cap tissue. ► Development of a computer image analysis system to quantify browning. ► The influence of several parameters on the bruising sensitivity. ► A collection of white and brown mushrooms was screened for bruising sensitivity.