Development and evaluation of Pleurotus mushroom mathri

. Strong smell and uneven shape of Pleurotus mushrooms have limited their popularity in India even though they cost less. Preliminary studies showed that mathri (a deep fat fried snack) of fairly good sensory qualities can be prepared using 10 g Pleurotus powder, 90 g refined wheat flour (maida), 2.0 g salt, 0.5 g baking powder, 35 ml water and 20.0 g hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). Levels of mushroom powder, baking powder and HVO were optimized using response surface methodology and central composite rotatable design. The blends were prepared separately. Fried mathri was subjected to sensory evaluation. The expansion on frying and fat contents were determined. Optimization studies gave one recipe corresponding to each quality parameter. Thus 5 optima levels of 3 ingredients were obtained. Recipe based on optimized colour score (9.1 g of Pleurotus powder, 0.6 g baking powder and 26.03 g HVO) gave the highest level of Pleurotus powder and was taken as compromised optima. Variations of 0.5 g in Pleurotus powder content in this recipe did not make any significant change in their scores (colour: 8.0-8.7, appearance: 8.3-8.5, flavour: 8.3-8.6, texture: 8.0-8.5, and OAA: 8.1-8.5). Water activity of optimized Pleurotus mathri (3.5% moisture db) was 0.22; its moisture content should be kept below 4.2% during storage.