Effect of drying, blanching, pickling and maceration on the fate of (40)K, total K and (137)Cs in bolete mushrooms and dietary intake

The effects of blanching, blanching and pickling and maceration on the leaching of (137)Cs and (40)K from the flesh of three edible bolete mushroom species—Boletus edulis, Leccinum scabrum and Leccinum versipelle—were investigated. Significant (p < 0.05) decreases in activity were observed but varied depending on the treatment. Relative to fresh mushrooms, blanching decreased the activity concentration of (137)Cs by 15 ± 13%, and of (40)K, by 16 ± 7%, but blanching and pickling (vinegar) reduced activity more effectively, by 55 ± 8% and 40 ± 20% respectively. The corresponding losses of (137)Cs and (40)K through maceration of dried, powdered mushrooms were 38 ± 11% and 35 ± 14% ww, respectively. These results indicate that traditional domestic processing methods may not be as efficient at excluding (137)Cs radioactivity as shown in some other studies. The activity concentration of (137)Cs in a typically sized (100 g) portion of a processed mushroom (sourced from nearshore regions of the southern Baltic Sea coast near Gdańsk in 2015) meal was projected to be low, i.e. in the range of 0.51 to 12 Bq kg(−1) ww. The corresponding effective dose of (137)Cs from blanched, blanched and pickled and macerated mushrooms per capita was also assessed to be low, from 0.001 to 0.010 μSv. Nutritionally, the median concentration of potassium (330 mg) in 100 g portions of blanched or pickled mushrooms would account for around 7% of the adequate adult daily intake. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]