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Abstract: The problem of shrinkage or loss in weight of mushrooms during processing has confronted mushroom canners for a number of years. Shrinkage values of 30 to 35 percent have been experienced generally, but during the past few seasons losses have approached 40 percent. This increasing shrinkage rate along with rising costs of production presents a serious challenge to mushroom canners. In a concerted effort to alleviate the problem of product shrinkage the Mushroom Canners committee of the Pennsylvania Canners Association initiated a research project at The Pennsylvania State University. The project, sponsored by the American Can Company has a two-fold objective: 1) to establish the major factors contributing to mushroom shrinkage during processing and 2) to determine the proximate analysis of fresh and canned mushrooms (total solids, fat, protein, ash, and carbohydrate), and to determine if the assay of any constituent might correlate with shrinkage of the product during processing. A number of production and processing factors have been investigated for influence on mushroom shrinkage. The mushrooms used in this investigation were grown under controlled conditions at the Mushroom Research Center located on the Penn State campus. Processing operations were performed in the Horticultural Processing Laboratory following commercial procedures as closely as possible. Canned mushrooms were held for a six week storage period before drained-weight determinations and canned-product analyses were made. Methods of proximate analyses employed were as follow: Solids content was determined by standard vacuum oven-drying method. Fat content was determined by ether extraction of the samples in a Soxholet apparatus. Protein content was calculated from Kjeldahl nitrogen. Ash content was determined by the standard ashing procedure. Carbohydrate content was calculated by difference (total solids less fat, protein, and ash). The data presented in this report are the combined data from duplicate experiments performed on two separate mushroom crops.
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