Background: In this work, the influence of different drying methods on the aroma composition and sensory quality of chanterelle mushrooms (Cantharellus cibarius Fr.) was evaluated. The drying methods tested were convective drying (CD), freeze drying (FD), vacuum microwave drying (VMD) and a combination of convective pre-drying and vacuum microwave finish drying (CPD-VMFD).
Results: Analyses of fresh and dried chanterelle samples by HS-SPME and GC/MS and GC-FID showed the presence of 39 volatile compounds at different concentrations. The most abundant compounds in fresh chanterelle were 1-hexanol (33.4 μg per 100 g dry basis (db)), 1-octen-3-ol (80.2 μg per 100 g db) and 2-octen-1-ol (19.3 μg per 100 g db). The results showed that fresh and dried chanterelle contained very low levels of aroma compounds; however, the highest contents of volatile compounds were found in samples after (i) CD at 80 °C (129 μg per 100 g db), (ii) CPD-VMFD at 70 °C-480/240 W (136 μg per 100 g db) and (iii) CPD-VMFD at 80 °C-480/240 W (136 μg per 100 g db).
Conclusion: The best dehydration methods, which resulted in high contents of volatile compounds and appropriate sensory quality, according to descriptive sensory analysis and PCA tools, were CD at 70 and 80 °C. Besides, these methods led to spongy dried mushrooms with high intensities of fresh, mushroom ID, with proper color and without intense shrinkage. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.
Keywords: 1-hexanol; descriptive sensory analysis; hot air drying; mushroom volatiles; vacuum microwave drying.
© 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.