Effect of pre-cooking time and drying method on the drying characteristics and quality of Tremella fuciformis

In this study, we investigated the effects of pre-cooking time and different drying methods (hot air drying (HAD), microwave vacuum drying (MVD), and microwave vacuum-hot air drying (MVD-HAD)) on the drying characteristics and quality of Tremella fuciformis were investigated. The results showed that the combined drying duration was 110–142 min, which was 73.70%–78.43% shorter than that of HAD, and the energy consumption was reduced by 77.22%–82.06%. Compared to the single drying method, the combined drying resulted in a uniform Tremella fuciformis pore structure, optimal rehydration ratio and improved soup viscosity (47.38 and 724 mPa·s, respectively) of Tremella fuciformis. It is noted that the moderate pre-cooking could maintain its nutritional quality, resulting in a significant increase in the total sugar and polysaccharide content, and as well as a notable decrease in the brightness and whiteness of the dried Tremella fuciformis. From a comprehensive point of view, pre-cooking for 15 min combined with MVD-HAD can improve the processing efficiency and storage stability while ensuring quality, making it an optimized processing solution.