Abstract
The mushroom Pholiota microspora exhibited browning and decreased fresh weight by the second day of storage at room temperature (25℃). It was suggested that polyphenol oxidase (PPO), which is an index of browning in many edible mushrooms, played a role in the decline in P. microspora quality during storage. In this study, oxidase activity was assessed using L-tyrosine, L-DOPA, and catechol as substrates. It was shown that PPO activity for catechol as a diphenol increased rapidly in P. microspora during storage at 25℃. In contrast, the fruiting body stored at low temperature (5℃) maintained its freshness for more than one week. Also, the PPO showed minimal activity against substrates during storage at 5℃. These results suggested that a diphenol oxidase such as catecholase was increased predominantly in the mushrooms, negatively impacting product quality during storage. Further, low temperature storage effectively inhibited catecholase activity associated with the browning of edible mushrooms.