Dehydrated mushrooms can be stored in airtight packages for more than 1 year. However, there is no information on the effects of such long-term storage on the amount and stability of vitamin D in the dried mushrooms. However, information on the stability of vitamin D in foods are generally limited. Research in this field focuses mainly on daily product : yogurts,ice cream,cheese and milk. Several studies describe the stability of ergocalciferol in mushrooms storage : frozen chanterelles, UV irradiated fresh button mushrooms stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Aim of this study was to examine the extent to which convection drying and storage time of dehydrated mushrooms have an impact on the amount of vitamin D2. In addition, our purpose was to determine whether dried (by two different methods : hot-air freeze drying) mushrooms can product vitamin D2 under UVB irradiation. In order to verify the influence of UVB irradiation on the production of vitamin D2 dehydrated mushrooms, the irradiation process of fresh sliced button mushrooms was also performed.