Effect of Pre-Treatments and Drying Air Temperature on the Quality of Dehydrated Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus florida)

Experiments were conducted on pre treated dehydrated oyster mushroom with steeping in citric acid and sodium chloride and blanching to investigate the effect of pre treatments and drying methods on drying characteristics of mushroom and quality of dried oyster mushroom. Drying was accomplished in a cabinet dryer using hot air at 40° C, 60°C and by sun drying. The drying characteristics of mushroom were not affected by the pre-treatments significantly. However, the rate of drying increased with the increase in drying temperature. Increase in drying temperature significantly reduced the total drying time. Pre treatments and drying temperature had adverse influence on the rehydration ratio, hardness and colour of the dehydrated mushrooms. Blanching improves the colour of the dehydrated mushroom but increased hardness also. A loss of protein was observed during blanching.