Variations of nonvolatile taste components of mushrooms with different operating conditions and parameters from farm to fork

Abstract

Mushroom is a sustainable food option and a meat substitute which yet needs some strategies to enhance sensory attributes. Especially, their taste characteristics (nonvolatile taste components: soluble sugars, organic acids, free amino acids, and 5’-nucleotides) can vary significantly due to operating conditions and parameters during different stages from farm to fork. This review is aimed to provide an overall view of the determined effects of operating conditions and parameters for mushroom taste attributes, suggestions for future research from lacking variables, and some recommendations for improving the taste perception of mushrooms. Taste compounds of mushrooms alter differently based on cultivation (species, cultivation or maturity stage, substrate composition, part, grade, mycelium strain), cooking (cooking method, time, temperature), preservation, and post-harvest storage conditions (drying parameters, pretreatment, preservation method, gamma irradiation, packaging, storage time and temperature). The dominant tastes of mushrooms given by sweet and umami taste active substances can be enhanced significantly with proper control of parameters during cultivation, cooking, drying, or post-harvest storage. The parameters and variations organized in this review can be used to develop a mathematical model for obtaining optimum taste attributes of mushrooms and mushroom-based meat alternatives and to discover the variables of mushroom species not studied yet.

Keywords:

• 5’-nucleotides
• consumer acceptance
• free amino acids
• meat alternatives
• sensory attributes
• taste substances

Acknowledgements

NTU Research Scholarship is greatly acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.