Controlled atmosphere (CA) storage prolonged the shelf life of mushrooms ( Agaricus bisporus , [Lange] Sing.) if the O 2 concentration was 9% or the CO 2 concentration was 25 or 50%. Concentrations of 2 to 10% O 2 stimulated pileus expansion and stipe elongation with maximal stimulation of growth occurring at 5% O 2 . Levels of CO 2 above 5% markedly inhibited growth, even after air was substituted for the CO 2 treatment. Five percent CO 2 stimulated stipe elongation and suppressed pileus expansion. Protein degradation, as indicated by protease activity and the level of a-amino N in the tissue, increased during postharvest maturation of mushrooms. As in starving bacteria, it is suggested that the main physiological function of proteolysis in the postharvest maturation of mushrooms is as a source of C and N.
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Murr et al. (1975) studied this question.