Characterisation of moisture migration of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) during storage and its relationship to quality deterioration

Summary Water is a critical factor influencing the quality of mushrooms. This paper investigated the moisture migration of shiitake mushroom during storage using low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF‐NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and its relationship to quality deterioration. Three water components assigned as water in different cell compartments of cell wall, cytoplasm and vacuole were observed in shiitake mushroom matrix. As the prolonging of storage time, the right shift of immobilised water and left shift of free water led to the merge of these two peaks at the end of storage. The increase in peak area of water in cytoplasm and decrease in the peak area of water in vacuole indicated evident moisture migration from vacuole to cytoplasm. MRI images showed heterogeneous water distribution in shiitake mushroom, and the water migrated from centre to surface, then evaporated to the environment. Besides, the moisture migration might be related to the weight loss and textural softening of shiitake mushroom.