Author(s): KUROZAWA, L. E.; AZOUBEL, P. M.; MURR, F. E. X.; PARK, K. J.

Summary: The aim of this work was to study the drying of fresh and osmotically dehydrated mushrooms and evaluate their qualities. The osmotic treatment was carried out at 20 °C with a 10% w.w?1 salt solution, 80 rpm agitation and 60 min immersion time. The mushrooms were dried in a vertical bed dryer with forced air-flow. An experimental design was applied to evaluate the influence of the temperature and air velocity on the drying constant, obtained according to an exponential model and on the colour difference between the dried and fresh samples. Using Response Surface Methodology, a condition was chosen to obtain the largest drying constants and smallest colour differences. The optimum conditions for the drying process were 70 °C and 2.0 m/s, and 80 °C and 2.5 m/s for fresh and osmotically dehydrated mushrooms, respectively. The dried mushrooms aresented â-glucan content values of 6.14 ± 0.55 and 6.77 ± 0.47 g.100 g?1 d.b under the optimised drying conditions. Osmotically dehydrated samples showed a slower re-hydration rate and smaller water activity than samples without pre-treatment.

Publication year: 2007

Types of publication: Journal article

Unit: Embrapa Semi-arid Region

Keywords: Cinética de secagem, Cogumelo Agaricus blazei, Congumelo fresco, Cor, Desidratação Osmótica, Planejamento experimental, Processamento