I think it’s not clear yet why powdered mushrooms degrade much faster than whole,lol, noone replied...
I vaccum seal bigger batches with silica gel and oxygen absorber, bc why not.
the best way to preserve them is in a jar, bone dry, poudered and with agron gas on it.
It is often said that it is less stable in pouder form bc more surface area, but that is wrong. What has more surface area, the densely packed pouder on the bottom with an inert layer or argon on or or some lose dried mushrooms that cannot even have argon on it unless you fill the whole bloody jar...
what enzyme do you have in mind? I have nerver heard this hypothesis and quite frankly just think you are wrong.[...] I think it has more to do with an enzymatic process that is somehow activated by the powdering of mushrooms than that it is an direct result of the surface area of the powder (powdered mushrooms have a much larger surface area than whole) [...]
Aight good to knowJust retested my mushrooms through bioassay over the weekend and no loss of potency noticed.
I have been trying to find my source for my claim, and can’t seem to find it anywhere, therefore I must revoke my claim that enzymes are entirely to blame. While the degradation is certainly promoted by powdering because one of the primary factors for degradation is the increase of surface area. The evidence about degradation because of enzymes although well known in fresh samples it is not clear in dry conditions.Vacuum sealed dry whole mushrooms stored in the dark works for me.
No loss of potency.
Finely gound mushrooms turned into chocolate have a surprising good shelf life (years). In my experience the chocolate protects them.
@Varallo, enzymes need water to work I believe. If you blend fresh mushrooms, enzymes will go crazy and degrade the actives quickly.
I can crumble & powderize my whole mushrooms with just my hands, would you say that is dry enough, or at least I do not need to worry about? "when very dry enzymes might not be the main culprit they would still have some effect"average person might not have been able to dry the mushrooms.
Mine are cracker dry before vacuum sealing with o2 absorbers, dessicant, and argon. They don't come out moist either after prolong storage. O2 absorbers use iron that is activated with moisture once opened from original package to scavenge oxygen in the package you place it in but not enough moisture to rehydrate your mushies, hence the need for dessicant packs. It's good practice to dehydrate new dessicant packs before using them to remove any moisture that was picked up along the way from manufacturing to the intended end use.o2 absorbers lend moisture to the environment
silica gel absorbs moisture
You'll only make use of your silica gel capacity to keep the shrooms dry adding an o2 absorber
If you have functional o2 absorber you do not have cracker-dry, for sure. For me it's all about cracker dry.