Thermo savant valupump vlp200

After cultivation, whole mushrooms were collected and frozen to −20 °C for one day and freeze dried in a ModulyoD Freeze Dryer, equipped with a Thermo Savant ValuPump VLP200 (Thermo Electron Corporation, Thermo Fischer, Waltham, MA, USA). Freeze drying was selected as the optimum drying method since it protects sensitive metabolites and bioactive compounds from degradation during long-term storage. This method removes samples’ moisture that may produce undesirable chemical reactions and promote microbial growth [51 (link)]. Prior to analyses, dried material was homogenized and powdered in a laboratory mill (Type ZM1, Retch GmbH, Haan, Germany). Dry material and all samples and extracts were kept in airtight packaging bags and vials at −20 °C.

Apricot pulp was kindly provided by Danais S.A. Fruit Processing Industry & Export Company (www.danais-sa.com). Apricot fruits of the ‘Bebekos’ variety, which represents 70% of Greek production, were collected from the region of Argos, Peloponnese, Greece, during June 2017. Apricot byproducts, which were generated during the processing and compression of raw fruits, mainly included skin and also flesh with a particle size of over 0.5 mm.
Apricot pulp was freeze dried in a ModulyoD Freeze Dryer, equipped with a Thermo Savant ValuPump VLP200 (Thermo Electron Corporation, Thermo Fischer, Waltham, MA, USA). Freeze-drying was selected as the pulp drying method since it protects sensitive metabolites from degradation during long-term storage. This method removes sample moisture that may produce undesirable chemical reactions and promote microbial growth [45 (link)]. Lyophilization is a requisite step for carotenoid extraction, as the water content of byproducts hinders the recovery of non-hydrophilic compounds from plant substrates [15 (link)]. Dried material was homogenized and powdered in a laboratory mill (Type ZM1, Retsch GmbH, Haan, Germany). Dry material and all samples and extracts were kept in glass jars and vials at −20 °C.