Three species of canned mushrooms are available in Taiwan, including Agaricus bisporus, Volvariella volvacea and Flammulina velutipes. The non-volatile taste components of fruit bodies and broth in cans were studied. Mushroom cans of V. volvacea and F. velutipes had similar weights whereas the cans of A. bisporus were lighter. Contents of soluble sugars and polyols were in the range of 22.9-30.9 and 5.62-14.2 mg g(-1) for fruit bodies and broth, respectively. Contents of total free amino acids were in the descending order of F. velutipes (247 and 146 mu g g(-1)) > A. bisporus (42.8 and 33.3 mu g g(-1)) > V. volvacea (27.2 and 12.4 mu g g(-1)) for fruit bodies and broth, respectively. Three mushrooms were considerably different in their profiles of free amino acids. gamma-Aminobutyric acid was found in the canned mushrooms. As compared with other taste components, contents of monosodium glutamate-like components were relatively lower. Contents of flavour 5'-nucleotides were in the range 14.8-36.5 mu g g(-1). Equivalent umami concentration (EUC) values were in the range of 0.10-13.2 mg MSG/100 g and in the descending order of F. velutipes > A. bisporus > V. volvacea. However, EUC values were low and insignificant in canned mushrooms. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
