UNAIR NEWS – The development of people’s consumption patterns has changed. Nowadays, mushrooms have become one of the most popular alternative foods. According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the level of Indonesian mushroom consumption is 0.18 kg per capita per year. So that the opportunity for domestic market demand can still be increased along with increasing population and the level of consumption of mushrooms per capita and per year.
In 2007, Indonesia occupied the top five countries of canned mushroom exporters with China, the Netherlands, Spain and France with exports of 18,392 tons to Germany, Russia, USA, Japan. According to FAOStat in 2016, Indonesian mushroom production ranked 15th in the world with production of 40,906 tons, higher than mushroom production in India, South Korea, and Vietnam.
According to Intan Ayu Pratiwi, UNAIR Biology Lecturer, mushrooms are widely cultivated by the community because they have almost equal protein content and exceed the protein in chicken and red meat. That makes the commodity consumption of mushrooms continues to increase.
“People often buy mushroom products in traditional and modern markets. The authenticity of mushroom products could fool them, “said Intan Ayu Pratiwi as a Lecturer in Biology at the Faculty of Science and Technology UNAIR.
He said the public often did not discipline to choose mushroom products, and they thought that the most important mushroom selected looked fresh and shaped according to the characteristics of most mushroom products. Even though currently there are a lot of circulating mushroom-based foods. Even today, there are also many ready-to-eat processed products and mushroom-based treatment products.
Surabaya has become one of the big cities with high mushroom consumption. Various types of fresh and processed mushroom products, he continued, can be easily found around Surabaya. But until now there have not been many reports related to the suitability of consumption mushrooms under the claim name. Whereas in the field of mycology, fungi can be found that are very similar, but after further examination, the types are different.
It has become common in the field of food import-export to check the quality of food ingredients up to their molecular level. Therefore it is necessary to know the suitability of the type of fungus and the absence of contaminants that we often consume. Especially to believe the products are not contaminated with other types of fungi.
“More and more mushroom products on the market must also be accompanied by product suitability tests and the absence of contamination,” he explained.
From the study, it was found that eight types of fresh and processed mushrooms tested showed compatibility of more than 90%. The results are the important information related to the suitability and safety of mushroom-based processed products. It is expected to be a protection for consumer rights to match the label printed on the package.
“The need for further research that succeeded in uncovering all types and processed products made from mushrooms, so that people are encouraged to re-examine the mushroom products before consumption,” he concluded.
Author : Tunjung Senja Widuri
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
Reference:
Link: http://www.envirobiotechjournals.com/article_abstract.php?aid=9469&iid=271&jid=3
Intan Ayu Pratiwi, M. Hilman F. Amin and Bambang Irawan. 2019. DNA Barcoding for Identification of Commercial Fresh and Processed Mushroom-Based Products in Surabaya, Indonesia. Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper Vol 25, April Page No.(40-45).
