GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

P.
a large blower located at one end. Trays with
fresh mushrooms are moved into the wind tunnel
furthest downstream. The fully dried
mushrooms are retrieved through an overlapping
"flap-door" nearest to the fan. For most
cultivators, this type of commercial dehydrator
does not require a heat source. The huge volume
of air removes the moisture through evaporation.
Depending upon the species and the final
product desired, mushrooms can be placed gills
down or gills up. By placing Shiitake mushrooms
with their gills down, the mushrooms
remain flatter in drying and take on a more
brittle texture. Most experienced Shiitake
growers find that by drying mushrooms, gills
facing up, that the cap curls inwards, giving the
mushroom an overall tighter and more resilient
texture. This form is the one most recognized
by Asians.
Dried mushrooms are then packaged, sometimes
shrink-wrapped into plastic bags, and
usually sold in 3—5 ounce packages. In most
cases, the shelf life of dried mushrooms is about
a year. If there is any danger of fly larvae or insect
infestation, low pressure steam sterilization
is recommended.
Marketing the Product
In the United States, markets for fresh mushrooms
have surged over the past 30 years, from
a total market value of $68,000,000 in 1969 to
$665,000,000 in 1992. Fresh gourmet mushrooms
were virtually unavailable in 1980. In
1992, gourmet mushrooms represented
$17,000,000 of total fresh mushroom sales, a
22% increase over the same period from the previous
year. The average price for Shiitake in 1992
was $4.11 per pound and Oyster mushrooms sold
for $3.66 per pound. (Approximately four times
as many Shiitake are sold in this country than
HARVESTING, STORING AND PACKING 429
Figure 382. 1(1-kilogram bags of dried Shiitake displayed
for sale in a market in China.
Oystermushrooms.)In comparison, the average
price for Button mushrooms for the same period
was an astounding $ .87 per pound. The
upward trend in terms of price, production, diversity
and markets is expected well into the
future. *
Before producing mushrooms on a cominercial
level, the cultivator is advised to conduct
mini-trials. With a little experimentation, the
cultivator can refine his techniques. Each failure
and success is useful in determining the
proper mushroom strain, substrate formula,
temperature tolerance, lighting level, harvesting
methods, and marketing strategies. Note
* Data derived from Mushrooms, August, 1992,
Agricultural Statistics Board, National Agricultural
Statistics Service, United States Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C. See Resource section
in the appendix.
PDF compression, OCR, web-optimization with CVISION's PdfCompressor