Effects of electrical and sonication pretreatments on the drying rate and quality of mushrooms

Application of pre-treatments such as electrical methods, and ultrasound are being used for decreasing the processing time and/or preserving the quality of the foodstuffs in drying technology. In this study, electroplasmolysis (EP) and ultrasound pre-treatments (US) were implemented for mushrooms. Elecroplasmolysis was performed at 100 V for 40 s and ultrasound was performed at 35 kHz for 30 min. Then samples were dried in a tray dryer at 50 degrees C with a 1.5 m/s air velocity. Drying rate and quality properties were investigated. As a result, the combination of pretreatments (EP + US) increased the drying rate around 37.10%. Ultrasound treatment preserved the phenolic content and color values better compared to electroplasmolysis. (c) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.