Umami taste and its association with energy status in harvested Pleurotus geesteranus stored at different temperatures

Abstract

Pleurotus geesteranus has recently been gaining popularity due to its strong umami taste. In the present study, umami taste, energy level, and energy metabolism-related enzymes activity in harvested P. geesteranus, stored at 20, 10, 5, and 0 °C, were investigated to evaluate the relationship between umami taste and energy status. Results showed that the mushroom at 5 °C exhibited significantly higher (p < 0.05) equivalent umami concentration (EUC), higher content of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), adenosine monophosphate (AMP), and higher activity of succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) and cytochrome c oxidase (CCO) in late storage. AMP, associating umami taste with energy, presented a significantly positive correlation with EUC and umami determined by electronic tongue at 5 °C. Furthermore, there were better correlations between umami taste and energy status of mushroom at 5 °C. The results suggest that higher energy status of post-harvest P. geesteranus contributes to better umami taste.