Maillard reaction products (MRPs) of mushroom protein have been shown to present unique flavor properties, but how additional reducing sugar and amino acids manipulate the generation of meaty flavor and the taste traits of MRPs are still open questions. In this study, the Copyinds comatus protein hydrolysates with different reducing sugars (D-ribose and D-xylose) and amino acids (cysteine, methionine, proline, and glutamic acid) were thermally treated. The flavor properties, volatile compounds and taste profiles of the resulting products were comprehensively evaluated using multi-scale flavor analyses techniques. Though the E-nose and E-tongue revealed enriched volatile profiles and taste traits of MRPs than the original hydrolysate, MRPs derived from various sugar-amino acid combinations cannot be well distinguished according to the PCA score plots. The fingerprints by GC-IMS revealed amino acid-specific compounds, including methylpyrazine, hexanol, and isopropyl acetate for methionine-participated MRPs, and ethyl propanoate, cyclohexanone, and 2-butanone for MRPs derived from cysteine. Quantitative results further demonstrated that the methionine-involved MRPs contained significantly higher amounts of sulfur- and nitrogen-containing VOCs than other MRPs, most of which were associated with meat-like odors. Sensory evaluation confirmed that the species of amino acid and reducing sugars made differences in the taste traits, and MRPs prepared from xylose-glutamic acid and xylose-methionine showed outstanding advantages of saltiness and umami taste enhancement. Overall, Copyinds comatus MRPs with methionine are efficient ingredients for the production of meat flavoring, with capacities to compensate for reduced sensory properties of low-sodium food.
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