How Long Are Mushrooms Good For (And Why)?

Exact Answer: Maximum Ten Days

Out of the many things that we like to consume, vegetables form a vital part of it. Vegetables like mushrooms are very versatile. You can mix two vegetables or mix it with beef and meat, and have something tasty to eat. 

You can even add mushrooms to your pizza or burgers to get that distinct flavor. There are a variety of dishes that you create using mushrooms. They taste good and are very nutritional in value. However, mushrooms are known to rot with ease. Hence, use it while it is still fresh. The reason being mushrooms have a short shelf life.

How Long Are Mushrooms Good For?

Whatever edible item you purchase from the store is bound to rot at some point or the other. The fact is vegetables are prone to going bad real fast. It implies to mushrooms too. Food items should get used within a day or two from the date of purchase.

Because in the majority of the cases, food items tend to spoil and become unfit for consumption. Some food products have an expiry date printed on them, which defines how long they will last.

It is not necessary that after the expiry date, the vegetables will rot. But the decay starts little by little. Rotten or not, they are not safe for consumption past their expiry dates.

The shelf life of mushrooms can get increased quite a lot if you store them in a refrigerator. It will help even further if you put it in an air-tight container when storing it in the fridge. Then it can last for about ten days.

The condition in which you store will also determine the number of days the mushrooms will stay good enough for consumption. The ideal way is to store it whole. The whole mushrooms will last longer as compared to sliced.

Another way is cooking the mushrooms and then storing them in the fridge. Some food preparations also require dried mushrooms. If you dry the mushrooms and store them in the refrigerator, they can even last for months.

Summing it up, it is all about storage. If you store it in the right way, it can stay consumable for up to ten days.

Why Are Mushrooms Good Only For That Long?

Every living being comes with an expiry date, and given that our food was once a living being, it means that too shall perish. It doesn’t matter if it is a vegetable or meat. After some days, it will not remain safe for consumption.

We have invented numerous ways to increase the storage time of food items, but that only helps little to the cause. We have an option to store food in refrigerators to make it last even longer. For some food, the shelf life can increase by months, and for some, it can only be for days.

If mushrooms are stored whole in a fridge, they are known to last for almost ten days. However, there are reasons why mushrooms only last that much, and they are as follows:

• Whole mushrooms last longer compared to sliced mushrooms. The reason is that the surface that gets exposed to air is lesser in fresh whole mushrooms. 
• With time, the bacterial growth increases on the mushroom. However, since it is in the fridge, the decay rate is slower. Hence, mushrooms are consumable for only a maximum of seven to eight days.

Conclusion

If you happen to buy mushrooms from the market, they do not come with an expiry date. But it is common knowledge that their shelf life is short.

When kept on the counter at room temperature, you can expect the mushrooms to rot in just a day. The outer surface will become sticky and slimy. The mushroom will also start turning brown. If the climate is humid, it will start going bad even in less than 12 to 14 hours.

If you want to enjoy mushrooms in their best condition, then try using them within a couple of hours since your purchase.

References

1. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf202638u
2. https://ifst.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1992.tb01216.x