A new product mushroom jerky which us an alternate to meat jerky (a popular snack item in the Western countries), was prepared and its nutritional and sensory qualities were analysed. The cleaned button mushrooms were marinated one hour at ambient temperature and kept in a refrigerated condition (5°C) for 10 hours and dried at 60 °C for 7 hours. Then, it was packed in a polyethylene bag of 150gauge thickness and kept for storage. The proximate analysis like energy, carbohydrate, protein, fat, fibre, calcium and iron and sensory characteristics were was determined. The results indicated that carbohydrates, protein, fat, crude fibre, calcium and iron of chilli treated jerky were 60.13g, 23.73g, 2.16g, 8.33g, 538.19mg, 7.45mg % respectively. In the case of pepper treated mushroom jerky the results were found to be 60.58g, 22.99g, 1.96g, 8.17g, 541.19 mg, 7.55mg% respectively. The scores of mushroom jerkies were 7.95 and 7.50; 7.78 and 7.00; 7.69 and 6.79; 7.69 and 7.00, 7.47 and 7.00

Mushroom, button, jerky, nutritional and sensory qualities.

Mushrooms can be converted in to value added products and the post harvest spoilage may be prevented. The mushrooms are nutritionally and nutraceutical rich which can prevent many diseases. According to this study, it is suggested that the novel chilli mushroom jerkies can be used as an alternate for meat jerky for vegan people and also a new avenue for a nutri rich snack . The nutrient content of the jerkies is also increased due to concentration during drying.

Geetha, P. Sudha, A. and Preetha, P. (2021). Standardization of Novel Mushroom Jerky and Consumer Preference. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 13(2): 362-366.