## 3 Results and Discussion
### Effects of the Moisture Content of Mulberry on the Texture Characteristics and Total Plate Count
#### 3.1.3 Effects of the Moisture Content on the Total Plate Count of Instant Mulberry  
Mulberry samples with different moisture contents were put in a refrigerator at 4.0 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 5 d before testing the total plate count; the results are shown in Figure 2. The total plate count of the samples declined with decreases in the moisture content. This is a similar result to the conclusions of [PERSON] et al. (2018): the sterilizing effect was strengthened as the microwave processing time increased, and the total plate count presented an increasing trend. This can be explained as follows: the microbial metabolism and reproduction capacity increased with increases in the moisture content, thus resulting in the fast growth of the total plate count between 44.07% and 79.74%. Foods qualify if their total plate count is lower than 5 log (CFU/g). Hence, instant mulberry conforms to the safety standards of bacterial colonies when the moisture content is lower than 60%. However, the total plate count changes greatly and has poor stability when the moisture content of the mulberry is between 44.07% and 79.74%, and it reaches the minimum when the moisture content is lower than 44.07%, where it is accompanied by stable changes. Therefore, the moisture content of mulberry should be controlled to lower than 44.07%.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Sample**} & & & & **Global** \\
**Moisture Content/\%** & **Appearance** & **Sweetness** & **Fragrance** & **Taste** & **Sensory** \\  & & & & & **Score** \\ \hline
79.74 & 4.82 \(\pm\) 0.14 c & 2.53 \(\pm\) 0.21 a & 4.72 \(\pm\) 0.12 c & 4.81 \(\pm\) 0.03 c & 16.88 \(\pm\) 0.49 c \\
73.56 & 4.25 \(\pm\) 0.18 c & 2.58 \(\pm\) 0.35 a & 4.58 \(\pm\) 0.14 c & 4.72 \(\pm\) 0.14 c & 16.13 \(\pm\) 0.81 c \\
68.03 & 4.05 \(\pm\) 0.21 bc & 2.96 \(\pm\) 0.15 b & 4.37 \(\pm\) 0.18 c & 4.63 \(\pm\) 0.12 c & 16.01 \(\pm\) 0.66 c \\
62.56 & 3.95 \(\pm\) 0.24 bc & 3.24 \(\pm\) 0.16 b & 4.18 \(\pm\) 0.23 bc & 4.58 \(\pm\) 0.27 c & 16.57 \(\pm\) 0.9 c \\
56.71 & 3.72 \(\pm\) 0.13 b & 3.54 \(\pm\) 0.28 b & 3.96 \(\pm\) 0.18 bc & 4.21 \(\pm\) 0.35 bc & 15.34 \(\pm\) 0.94 bc \\
50.35 & 3.59 \(\pm\) 0.16 b & 3.69 \(\pm\) 0.24 b & 3.86 \(\pm\) 0.28 bc & 3.95 \(\pm\) 0.17 bc & 15.09 \(\pm\) 0.85 bc \\
44.07 & 3.48 \(\pm\) 0.24 b & 3.86 \(\pm\) 0.25 bc & 3.57 \(\pm\) 0.19 b & 3.76 \(\pm\) 0.18 b & 14.67 \(\pm\) 0.86 bc \\
38.59 & 3.26 \(\pm\) 0.16 b & 4.08 \(\pm\) 0.31 bc & 3.26 \(\pm\) 0.14 b & 3.53 \(\pm\) 0.26 b & 14.13 \(\pm\) 0.87 b \\
32.78 & 2.58 \(\pm\) 0.24 a & 4.25 \(\pm\) 0.16 c & 2.85 \(\pm\) 0.05 a & 2.78 \(\pm\) 0.26 ab & 12.46 \(\pm\) 0.71 ab \\
25.91 & 2.46 \(\pm\) 0.17 a & 4.38 \(\pm\) 0.32 c & 2.62 \(\pm\) 0.15 a & 2.54 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & 12 \(\pm\) 0.68 a \\
19.78 & 2.32 \(\pm\) 0.21 a & 4.85 \(\pm\) 0.12 c & 2.54 \(\pm\) 0.24 a & 2.35 \(\pm\) 0.21 a & 12.06 \(\pm\) 0.78 a \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note: a, b, and c indicate food tasting sensory ratings; excellent, good, and average.  
\end{table}
Table 4: The sensory score of mulberry with different moisture contents.  
Figure 2: The total plate count of mulberry with different moisture contents.