Effects of drying methods on the tasty compounds of Pleurotus eryngii

The aim of this research was to study effects of drying methods on the tasty compounds of Pleurotus eryngii, a common commercial edible fungus. In order to maximally maintain the taste of P. eryngii, several different drying methods, including hot air, vacuum, microwave, freeze drying and naturally air-drying, were compared. Results showed that freeze drying and hot air were capable of the conservation of the taste compounds maximally in P. eryngii, followed by natural air drying and vacuum, while microwave drying was not suitable for P. eryngii due to the loss of taste compounds. Moreover, concentrations of free amino acids in freeze drying were significantly reduced, so as to 5′-nucleotides in hot air drying. In addition, the umami concentration of the sample using hot air dry was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that using microwave.