Microwave-vacuum drying modulates the supramolecular organization and biofunctionality of β-glucans from edible mushrooms.

Microwave-vacuum drying (MVD) was evaluated as a structuring strategy for β-glucans from Agaricus bisporus, Cyttaria espinosae, and Grifola gargal, using hot-air drying (HAD) as reference. MVD markedly intensified dehydration, increasing Page model drying constants by up to 20-40-fold compared with HAD, with excellent fitting (R2 = 0.9980-0.9995). Fresh β-glucan contents were species-dependent, reaching 55.02 ± 3.61 g/100 g d.b. in G. gargal, 31.00 ± 1.13 g/100 g d.b. in C. espinosae, and 9.42 ± 1.40 g/100 g d.b. in A. bisporus. FTIR confirmed preservation of the β-glucan chemical fingerprint, whereas DSC and SEM revealed drying-dependent supramolecular reorganization. All extracts were cytocompatible toward HDF cells. Notably, MVD-derived C. espinosae β-glucans reduced AGS and Caco-2 viability to 31.03 ± 4.90% and 41.27 ± 7.60%, respectively. These findings support MVD as a promising strategy to tailor mushroom β-glucan biofunctionality.