Preferred techniques for forest mushrooms cooking by residents of contaminated areas of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident

Abstract

The article presents results of the analysis of questionnaire survey data on preferences in the choice of cooking methods of different types of forest mushrooms by residents of the most contaminated south-western districts of the Bryansk region in the remote period after the Chernobyl accident. In the period from 2019 to 2022, the employees of Federal Budgetary Institution of Science «Saint-Petersburg Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene after Professor P.V. Ramzaev» conducted a face-to-face questionnaire survey of the adult population. In addition to general questions about the respondent, the questionnaires included questions about the species composition of the mushroom basket, the volume and proportion of consumption of each type of mushroom by the respondent and his family members (both in the current and last year), as well as methods of culinary processing of the mushrooms consumed. Based on the analysis of individual survey data, a group of 1 311 respondents, whose diet included various types of mushrooms, was selected. Analysis of the survey results showes that respondents prefer to process a large proportion of freshly picked forest mushrooms (59%) for long-term storage (pickling, freezing, drying, salting, etc.); 41% of mushrooms are consumed immediately. The most popular pretreatments of freshly picked mushrooms are washing and boiling (34 and 26%, respectively). When freezing, pickling and pickling up to 97% of respondents carry out pre-treatment (rinsing, soaking and / or boiling) of freshly picked mushrooms. Less popular methods of the mushroom preparation (from 2 to 4%) are pickling, drying and frying of fresh mushrooms with their subsequent preservation. Thus, the majority of respondents actively use various types of culinary processing with the use of preliminary stages of technological processing in the form of rinsing, soaking and (or) boiling. The use of the above methods of pre-cooking of freshly harvested mushrooms leads to a decrease in the 137Cs content in the consumed product.