Optimization of the Preparation Process of Lentinula edodes Prefabricated Dishes

In order to obtain convenient and healthy Lentinula edodes prefabricated dishes (LPD), the processing conditions of rehydration, blanching, color protection and sterilization method were optimized by using the polysaccharides as the nutrition index, and color, texture and flavor as the quality index. Results showed that the optimal rehydration-blanching conditions were: rehydration at room temperature for 50 min, then blanching for 3 min. At this time, the polysaccharides loss rate was the lowest (24.31%±3.03%), the hardness of L. edodes was low, and the chewing was moderate. Subsequently, the value of chromatism, and A₂₉₄ and A₄₂₀ that could characterize the degree of Maillard reaction were used as evaluation indexes, the composition of color protection agent was optimized by orthogonal tests. The results showed that the optimized color protection agent for sliced L. edodes was composed of 12 g/L of citrate, 0.8 g/L of ascorbic acid, and 2.0 g/L of L-cysteine. After further optimization, it was determined that the optimal soak time was 20 min. Under these conditions, the ΔE of sterilized sliced L. edodes was 17.00±0.08, and the comprehensive score of color was 10.295±0.190. Finally, the color and flavor of LPDs which respectively sterilized by high pressure, normal pressure and γ-irradiation were compared to select the sterilization method. As a result, the cold sterilization, ⁶⁰Co-γ irradiation was selected as the optimal sterilization method for LPD production. As a summary, the optimized preparation process for LPD, which obtained in this study with simple processing condition and short production cycle, could better retain the nutritional value and unique flavor of L. edodes, and would be suitable for large-scale industrial production of LPD.