Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Technologia Alimentaria

Background. Soup could be used as an alternative to a meal as many of its nutrients could potentially fulfill the body’s nutritional requirements. It is very practical and only takes a short time to prepare. In this study, the usefulness of supplementing dried vegetable soup mixtures with mushrooms and other vegetables to enhance its nutritional value was observed.

Material and methods. This study was carried out in order to develop a mixed soup powder supplemented with pearl oyster mushrooms, some legumes, and other vegetables. Eight formulas were prepared using different variations. Freeze-drying was used for pearl oyster mushroom and conventional drying (hot air) was applied for the other vegetables. The methods of Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) and Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA) were applied for sensory evaluation and analysis.

Results. Out of the eight formulas of soup which were prepared, formula 8 resulted in a high-quality product with the highest acceptability. The total energy content was 459.14 kcal/100 g along with the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges for protein (25.73%), carbohydrates (53.53%) and lipid (20.74%). Sensory evaluation and product likelihood was also recorded.

Conclusion. The present study demonstrated that vegetable soup could be suitable for vegetarians and others due to its high and balanced nutritional values. Further studies are required to evaluate the nutritional composition of oyster pearl mushroom soup mixtures on a larger number of samples to ensure the accuracy of the nutritional contents presented.