Evaluation of food-processing conditions of various particle sizes of Tremella fuciformis powder via DSC and TG analyses

Tremella fuciformis (Berk.), also known as silver ear, has a high economic value due to being a valuable edible and medicinal mushroom. The focus of this study was on the various particle sizes of 80–300 mesh (particle diameters from 2 mm to 250 μm) for freeze-drying silver ear powder in order to determine the water-holding capacity, viscosity, and crude polysaccharide content of various particle sizes. Our aim was to determine the possible conditions for silver ear powder for food processing under the conditions of oxidation/non-oxidation and heat treatment. Overall, we obtained various particle sizes of silver ear powder, the water-holding capacity decreased from 21.84 to 14.82 g g^?1, the viscosity increased from 8.53 to 71.20 cP, and the content of crude polysaccharides, which remained almost constant, was approximately 300 mg g^?1. In addition, the smaller the particle size of silver ear powder, the greater the thermal stability of the particles by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TG) tests. The results for various particle sizes of silver ear powder in food processing are never more than ca. 240 °C by DSC tests. Moreover, comparing the results of thermal decomposition using TG analyzer under nitrogen and air conditions, in nitrogen, the various particle sizes have better preservation for storage conditions and the smaller particle size powders retained good thermal decomposition characteristics.