Vacuum Impregnation of Ascorbic Acid and Calcium Lactate Improves Quality Attributes and Functionality of White Button Mushrooms

Ascorbic acid (1% w/w) and calcium lactate (1% w/w) were vacuum impregnated into mushrooms to improve their physicochemical quality. Experiments were carried out using central composite design under response surface methodology with four independent variables, viz., solution temperature (ST) (35-55?), salt concentration (SC) (4-12%), vacuum pressure (VP) (50-170 mbar), and immersion time (IT) (30-90 min) with constant solution to sample ratio (4 : 1). The ascorbic acid content of mushroom increased with vacuum pressure with a maximum content of 30.68 mg/100 g. The results also suggested that calcium lactate allowed a better maintenance of texture during storage. The optimum conditions obtained for vacuum impregnation (VI) were 41?, 10%, 140 mbar, and 75 min of solution temperature, salt concentration, vacuum pressure, and immersion time, respectively. Under these conditions, the corresponding responses were 22.14%, 2.31%, 28.74 mg/100 g, 0.28%, 4.61, 9.85 N, and 5.37 of water loss, solute gain, ascorbic acid, titratable acidity, colour change, texture, and pH, respectively. The vacuum impregnated mushrooms had more firmness, soluble solids, and ascorbic acid content than the control group. Therefore, the result suggested that vacuum impregnation could be used as an effective and simple technique to improve the quality of mushroom.

Automated summary

The study investigated the use of vacuum impregnation with ascorbic acid and calcium lactate to improve the physicochemical quality of mushrooms. The experimental design included four independent variables: solution temperature, salt concentration, vacuum pressure, and immersion time. The results showed that increasing the vacuum pressure led to higher ascorbic acid content in the mushrooms, while calcium lactate helped preserve the texture during storage. The optimized conditions for vacuum impregnation were determined, and the vacuum impregnated mushrooms exhibited improved firmness, soluble solids, and ascorbic acid content compared to the control group.