ISSN: 1579-4377

EFFECT OF OSMOTIC PRE-TREATMENT ON THE DEHYDRATION OF AGARICUS BLAZEI MUSHROOMS

Eliane Maurcio Furtado Martins, Maria Catarina Megumi Kasuya, Mriam Teresinha dos Santos and Maria Cristina Dantas Vanetti* Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Viosa, Viosa, 36570-000 MG, Brazil mvanetti@ufv.br (M.C.D. Vanetti)

ABSTRACT The sensorial and physicochemical characteristics of Agaricus blazei mushrooms submitted to osmotic treatment with solutions containing 40% and 60% (w/w) polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 400 prior to standard oven drying are described. Mushrooms submitted to osmotic dehydration with PEG appeared less white (P<0.05) than those that had been oven drying. The value of 432.7 N for texture obtained on oven dried mushrooms indicates higher crunchiness than those pre-treated with 60% PEG that was 422.9 N. The loss of mineral content was higher in osmotically dehydrated mushrooms compared with controls. Water activity and moisture levels in mushrooms submitted to osmotic dehydration were higher than in samples that had been directly oven dried indicating that osmotic pre-treatment did not improve water removal from A. blazei mushrooms.

KEYWORDS Mushroom, Agaricus blazei, Osmotic dehydration, Polyethyleneglycol.

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INTRODUCTION A number of mushroom species are of particular interest to man by virtue of their healthgiving properties, and many are valued as nutritional or therapeutic sources (Mizuno, 1995; Chang and Buswell, 1996). During the last decade, the worldwide cultivation of mushrooms has risen significantly and this activity now forms an important sector of the agricultural industry (Kues and Liu, 2000). In Brazil, for example, production of the native edible mushroom Agaricus blazei Murril is increasing in order to supply the growing demands of the international market. Mushrooms are commonly commercialised in dried form, either in slices or as powder or capsules. Drying is an energy-intensive operation and the main objective of any drying process is to produce a dried product of desired quality at a minimum cost and maximum throughput, and to optimize these factors consistently (Chua et al., 2001). Osmotic treatment is a method that is often used to improve the quality and stability of food products (Krokida et al., 2000) and also to reduce the energy required for their dehydration (Raoult-Wack, 1994). In order to obtain the longest shelf life for a product, osmotic dehydration is typically employed in association with other methods of food preservation including freezing, vacuum dehydration and oven or freeze drying (Torringa et al., 2001). The osmotic treating have been used as a pre-step before drying (Jiokap et al., 2001) because it has the advantage of improve nutritional, sensorial and functional aspects of foods, without changing its colour, texture and aroma. Besides, the osmotic dehydration minimizes the thermal damage on colour, flavour and prevents enzymatic browning (Islam and Flink, 1982) that is the main critical factor on the quality of this kind of mushrooms. One of the most important factors associated with the efficiency of osmotic dehydration relates to the composition of the process solution employed. Process solutions often contain sodium chloride, sugars, ethanol, syrup, gum, mannitol or polyethylene glycol (PEG) in varying amounts (Raoult-Wack, 1994; Sajnin et al., 1999). Whilst a number of models have been proposed in order to predict water and solute transfer during osmotic treatment (Yao and Le Maguer, 1996), further experimental data are required in order to facilitate their application, to advance our understanding of the phenomenon and, thus, to improve process design. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of osmotic dehydration as a pre-treatment for oven drying A. blazei mushrooms. In this context, colour, texture, water activity, moisture and mineral content of mushrooms osmotically treated and not treated were analysed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Mushroom Samples Specimens of A. blazei were harvested and processed at a commercial farm located in Brz Pires, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Selected mushrooms were washed in running water, brushed, decontaminated with organic chloride, cut and submitted to dehydration either by direct drying in a cabinet tray drier maintained at 45C for 12 h or by osmotic pre-treatment followed oven dried until they became crunchy.

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Osmotic Dehydration Freshly prepared mushrooms were weighed and immersed in a process solution containing 40% or 60% (w/w) PEG 400 (Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) in 0.02 M KH2PO4 / K2HPO4 (Merck) buffer at pH 6.9 for 6 h at 10 C (Lin and Pitt, 1986). Following treatment with PEG, partially dehydrated mushrooms were reweighed and submitted to oven drying as described above. Sensorial and Physicochemical Analysis The major characteristics, i.e. colour, texture, moisture, water activity (aw) and mineral content, of oven dried mushrooms were compared with those of mushrooms that had received osmotic pre-treatment prior to oven drying. Colour was evaluated from five determinations of the reflectance spectra at random points on the surface of the mushrooms, followed by comparison with the International Commission on Illumination standard scale of lightness values (L*). The ColorQuest II Sphere colorimeter (Hunterlab, Reston, VA, USA) employed was initially calibrated with white and black backgrounds. Texture was determined using a Stable Microsystems (Godalming, UK) model TAHDi Texture Analyzer equipped with a cylindrical probe (3.5 cm o.d.) revolving at a constant speed of 5 mm s-1. Each mushroom was cut in half and the compression test performed with the smooth surface placed horizontally on the platform. The maximum force (N) registered was related to the firmness of the mushroom halves. The water activity of the processed mushrooms was evaluated using an AquaLab model CX-2A instrument (Decagon Devices, Pullman, WA, USA), whilst moisture content (expressed as a percentage) was calculated from the loss in weight determined following further drying to constant weight of the processed samples in an oven at 105C (AOAC, 2006). In order to determine mineral content, samples were pre-dried in a circulating-air oven at 45 C for 12 h, ground to a powder and the minerals extracted using a mixture of nitric acid and perchloric acid (4:1). The concentrations of micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) and macronutrients (Ca, K, Mg, P, and S) were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (SpectrAA 220/FS, Varian Australia Pty., Ltd, Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia), except for P and S, which were assayed by UV/VIS spectrophotometry (Thermo Electron Corporation, Waltham, MA, US). Statistical Analysis The experiment was conducted according to a completely randomised design. Three samples were tested for each treatment and control, and the whole experiment was carried out in duplicate. Data were evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey test, using SAEG software version 9.0 (SAEG Federal University of Viosa, MG, Brazil). RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS A weight loss of 31.2% was recorded for fresh mushrooms submitted to 6 h of osmotic dehydration with 40% PEG, whilst samples similarly treated with 60% PEG showed a weight loss of 41%. However, the overall appearance of the osmotically treated mushrooms was poor and the palatable characteristics were diminished in comparison with oven dried

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controls. Some dehydrated foods showed improve on the sensorial and functional properties without changing integrity after osmotic pre-treatment (Raoult-Wack, 1994). Mushrooms submitted to osmotic dehydration with PEG appeared less white (P<0.05) than those that had been simply washed in water prior to oven drying (Table 1). Moreover, samples treated with 60% PEG appeared darker (P<0.05) than those treated with 40% PEG (Table 1). Colour is an important sensory attribute because it is usually the first characteristic noted by potential consumers (Senz et al., 1993). Moreover, colour is often associated with the quality of the product and may be taken as an indicator of the level of natural deterioration of fresh foods (Krokida et al., 2000). Osmotic treatment can prolong pigment retention and minimise the browning associated with natural oxidative processes, thus making products more attractive to consumers (Kowalska and Lenart, 2001). Argandoa et al. (2002) showed, for example, that the L* values of melons that had been submitted to osmotic dehydration were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the fresh fruits. In contrast, the results of the present study with A. blazei indicate that osmotic dehydration promotes the browning of mushrooms.
Table 1. Colour (l*), texture (n), moisture content (%) and water activity (aw) values determined in mushroom samples submitted to osmotic treatment with peg prior to oven drying Treatments Colour (L*a) Texture (N a) Moisture (%a) Water activity (aw a) Control 58.1a 432.7a 13.5a 0.33a (oven drying) PEG 40% + oven 49.3b 423.5b 16.6b 0.43a drying PEG 60% + oven 51.5c 422.9b 16.3b 0.44a drying CV (%) 1.073 0.249 3.040 22.237 a Average followed by the same letter are not significantly different by Tukey test (P<0.05). Average from three repetitions.

The texture of mushrooms submitted to osmotic dehydration was also inferior (P<0.05) to that of the oven dried controls (Table 1). Firmness and crunchiness are fundamental signs of the vitality of a mushroom, and their loss is highly detrimental to the quality of the product. Loss of texture is, apparently, a common consequence of osmotic dehydration since Argandoa et al. (2002) reported that melons submitted to osmotic treatment, with sucrose as the process solution, were less crunchy than the fresh product. Similar results were obtained for strawberries osmotically dehydrated (Prinzivalli et al., 2006). The levels of aw and moisture in mushrooms submitted to osmotic dehydration were higher (P<0.05) than in samples that had been directly dried (Table 1), indicating that osmotic treatment did not improve water removal. As the samples were maintained in the PEG solution for 6 h it could assisted the absorption of water. Torringa et al. (2001) reported that mushrooms have a porous structure with an initial porosity of 40%, which causes a significant uptake of moisture. Mushrooms that had been directly oven dried presented a higher content of micro- and macro-nutrients (with the single exception of P) compared with samples submitted to osmotic dehydration prior to oven drying (Table 2). We verified that the reduction of amount of Cu, Mn and S in the omostically dehydrated mushrooms was statistically significant (P<0.05) compared to mushrooms oven dried. However, we did not observe

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significant difference (P>0.05) between the concentration of others minerals among mushrooms submitted to different treatments. The reduction in the mineral content of mushrooms is also an undesirable result since this diminishes the nutritional value of the product. The loss of essential solutes, including sugar, organic acids, vitamins and minerals, during osmotic dehydration has been described in previous reports (Raoult-Wack, 1994; Khin et al., 2005). Moreover, Kowalska and Lenart (2001) demonstrated that the loss of water by diffusion from the cell tissue during osmotic dehydration is often accompanied by the transfer of solutes from inside the cells to the hypertonic solution.
Table 2. Mineral content, expressed as a percentage of dry weight, determined in mushrooms samples submitted to osmotic treatment with peg prior to oven drying Mineral content (%) after treatment Minerals Control a (oven drying) Cu Fe Mn Zn Ca Mg S P K
a

PEG 40% + (oven drying) a 0.0046b 0.0080a 0.0006ab 0.0059a 0.03a 0.08a 0.18ab 1.42a 1.86a

PEG 60% + (oven drying) a 0.0040b 0.0077a 0.0005b 0.0046a 0.02a 0.06a 0.12b 1.42a 2.34a

CV (%) a

0.0076a 0.0204a 0.0011a 0.0088a 0.04a 0.12a 0.30a 1.33a 3.74a

6.426 55.633 18.223 21.680 37.542 16.183 17.378 10.275 31.153

Data followed by the same letter, in the same line, are not significantly different by Tukey test (P<0.05). Average from two repetitions.

CONCLUSIONS The osmotic pre-treatment of A. blazei mushrooms prior to oven drying has been found to be disadvantageous since the process promoted tissue browning and loss of minerals giving rise to a product that was inferior in both nutritional and sensorial characteristics. Further investigations need to be conducted in order to determine whether a more limited osmotic treatment could be of value in assisting the oven drying process without an accompanying decrease in the quality of the product.

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