A new commercial processing technology can boost the vitamin D content of mushrooms with no adverse effects on other nutrients according to a new study published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
The technology, which involves exposing mushrooms to the same kind of ultraviolet light that produces suntans, can greatly boost mushrooms’ vitamin D content.
Many people don’t get enough vitamin D in their diets, and few natural foods are high in the vitamin, plus there are limits on which foods can be fortified to boost the vitamin D content.
Mushrooms are an excellent natural source of vitamin D, and some producers have embraced results of earlier studies, suggesting that exposing mushrooms to ultraviolet B (UVB) light can significantly boost the vitamin D content.
The scientists acknowledged their funding from the U.S. Mushroom Council, and set out to answer several questions about commercial-scale UV light processing of mushrooms. They compared button mushrooms exposed to UVB light, those exposed to natural sunlight and those kept in the dark.
The UVB-exposed mushrooms got a dramatic boost in vitamin D (700 percent more of the vitamin than those mushrooms exposed to no light) with no effect on levels of vitamin C, folate, riboflavin, niacin and a host of other essential nutrients.
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