Changes in Major Volatile Compounds Level in Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus sp.) Based on Fruiting Body Sizes 

While the primary volatile compound in common oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus sp.) is known to be 1-octen-3-ol, which is a secondary alcohol derived from 1-octene and known as mushroom alcohol. However, in the case of yellow oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus citrinopileatus), a significantly lower concentration of this substance was detected, with a higher presence of 2-nonenal. 2-nonenal is an unsaturated aldehyde, and an important aroma component of aged beer and buckwheat. We conducted an analysis to investigate how the levels of volatile aroma compounds change with three size of oyster mushroom fruiting bodies, as these compounds can become undesirable characteristics when utilizing oyster mushrooms in processing. In case of pink oyster mushroom (Pleurotus djamor), the primary component was 1-octen-3-ol, the concentration of which was 12.6, 31.1, and 91.5 μg/g d.w. , respectively, in the three size categories we divided the fruiting bodies into. For yellow oyster mushroom, 2-nonenal was identified as the major volatile compound, and the concentration of that was 120.3, 164.4, and 366.5 μg/g d.w. , respectively, in the three size categories. In both cases, it was observed that as the fruiting bodies grew larger in the later stages of development, the concentrations of volatile aroma compounds significantly increased.

This work was carried out with the support of “Development of new mushroom cultivars for export expansion (Project No. PJ01419604)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.