Dehydration and Quality of Dried Mushrooms: A Review

Abstract

The production of mushrooms is increasing at a rapid pace due to advanced production technologies and higher consumption throughout the world. The consumption of edible mushrooms has increased throughout the world due to its high nutritive value, texture and flavor. Mushroom cultivation in India is emerging as secondary agricultural based land independent enterprises with huge local and export market potential. The post harvest life of mushrooms is very limited due to high moisture content and water activity, microbial, enzymatic activity and biochemical reactions. Storage of fresh mushrooms is a major problem in Indian conditions due to the lack of a cold chain system in India. Preservation of mushroom is very essential for reducing post harvest loss and extending shelf life whilst maintaining nutritional and organoleptic qualities for consumer’s acceptance and availability of products during off-season. Dehydration is the most popular and important technique to increase the shelf life of mushrooms by reducing moisture content up to a level at which undesirable charges are prevented. The drying techniques which have the great potential for the production of quality dried mushrooms and powders are solar drying, tray drying, vacuum drying, microwave-vacuum drying, freeze drying and heat pump drying. Pretreatment before drying seems to be an effective method of preservation of mushrooms with minimum changes in nutritional and sensory quality to increase consumer’s acceptability and market potential of dehydrated mushrooms. This review gives the information on pretreatments, dehydration and quality of dehydrate mushrooms.