Rehydration process of Boletus edulis mushroom: characteristics and modelling

Abstract Rehydration of air‐dried Boletus edulis mushrooms was investigated at six temperatures (25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C). To describe the rehydration kinetics, two empirical equations, Peleg and Weibull, and a diffusion model for a slab were considered. The empirical models described the rehydration process properly, while the diffusion model also described experimental data adequately when considering the moisture‐dependent effective diffusion coefficient. The equilibrium moisture content increased in line with temperature up to 60 °C, then decreased. The kinetics constants of the Peleg and Weibull models, k 1 and β respectively, were affected by temperature. This influence of temperature can be expressed in term of an Arrhenius relationship, with an average activation energy of 19.2 kJ mol −1 . Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry