Is Jet Milling Best for Mushroom Powders?

Because mushrooms have such high water content, they must be dried for long-term food storage. Dried mushrooms, however, can also be milled into food- and beverage-friendly mushroom powders. While there are a few mechanical operations available for milling dried mushrooms, researchers in South Korea just made a case for jet milling of mushrooms over roll milling.

Using lion’s mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceum) as an example, researchers at Chung-Ang University milled frozen mushroom samples by way of conventional roll milling or jet milling. Compared to roll milling, jet milling yielded mushroom powder with smaller particle size, higher water solubility, higher amounts of extractable protein, and higher amounts of extractable polysaccharides. Jet milling also produced more porous powders, which the researchers said are favorable for making food additive powders, “because larger pores result in powder rehydration faster.”

The speed of jet milling is also an important consideration, since various speeds can be selected. The researchers found that with all of the favorable outcomes made possible by jet milling, a high speed of 16,000 rpm produced the best results and the finest powder. For a look at the significant differences in scores between type of milling and speed of milling, the study is now available in the Journal of Food Engineering (linked above).

Robby Gardner
Associate Editor
Nutritional Outlook magazine
robby.gardner@ubm.com


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