## 4 Conclusions  
Some agricultural products are cultivated seasonally and stored for year-round use, usually by drying. Drying lowers moisture content, which increases shelf life and prevents spoiling. Traditional techniques, such as oven drying at 60 \({}^{\circ}\)C, can reduce food quality by affecting colour, microbiological structure, and scent components, as demonstrated in strawberries. To overcome these difficulties, innovative drying technologies are constantly being developed, which improve product quality, increase commercial value, and emphasize the relevance of the drying industry. While some methods enhance quality, others may have adverse effects. Selecting the appropriate drying method requires considering the product's characteristics, production goals, and consumer expectations. Evaluating numerous aroma compounds systematically adds to the complexity of this decision-making process.  
Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques are frequently used to make decision-making processes more systematic and to manage uncertainties, such as in choosing strawberry drying methods. MCDM enables more effective solutions to complex problems and more informed decisions. In this study, PSI-based MCDM techniques were used to make the most appropriate choice among strawberry drying methods.  
The values of 23 distinct aroma compounds obtained with different drying methods applied to strawberry fruit were analyzed with seven different MCDM techniques. The calculations gave similar results and these results were combined with the Borda rule. Accordingly, the drying methods with the highest scores were determined as freeze drying, shade drying, and oven drying at 45 \({}^{\circ}\)C, respectively. These findings revealed that the freeze-drying method, which has been frequently preferred in recent years but is quite high in terms of cost, gave the best results. On the other hand, the oven drying method performed at 60 \({}^{\circ}\)C in food drying was determined to be the method that gave the worst results because it caused the loss of a significant part of the aroma compounds. High temperatures caused the decrease or disappearance of many aroma compounds in the food content.  
Future research can expand on the results by carrying out more thorough examinations of numerical data derived from strawberry drying tests using MCDM methodologies, such as nutritional content, mineral levels, and vitamin values. Further enriching the study might involve including expert comments on drying procedures, and cost and objectively assessing these subjective insights. Sensitivity studies can also be carried out with different parameters, enabling a thorough investigation of how each element affects the outcomes. These methods would help to build a more profound comprehension of the drying process and more objective, accurate findings.  
Conceptualization: A.A. ([PERSON]) and A.A. ([PERSON]), Data Curation: N.C., A.A. ([PERSON]) and A.A. ([PERSON]), Formal analysis: A.A. ([PERSON]) and A.A. ([PERSON]), Methodology: A.A. ([PERSON]) and A.A. ([PERSON]), Visualization: [PERSON]. ([PERSON]) and [PERSON] ([PERSON]), Writing-original draft: [PERSON]. ([PERSON]), [PERSON] ([PERSON]) and N.C., Writing-review & editing: [PERSON]. ([PERSON]), [PERSON] ([PERSON]) and N.C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research received no external funding.  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are openly available in Molecules at [[https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144153](https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144153)]([https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144153](https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26144153)), reference number [14].  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.