THE AROMA OF EDIBLE MUSHROOMS - HEADSPACE ANALYSIS USING GC FID AND GC FTIR MS

Headspace samples, steam distillates and dichloromethane extracts of t he most well liked edible mushrooms (Agaricus campestris, Agaricus bis porus, Lepiota procera, Armillaria mellea, Boletus edulis and Canthare llus cibarius) were investigated by means of GC/FID, GC/FTIR/MS and a GC-sniffing technique. The aim of these analyses was the identificatio n of constituents responsible for the typical mushroom odour of each s pecies. To relate GC/Fouriertransform Infrarot-Detektor/MS (GC/FTIR/MS ) data with olfactoric ones, the GC-sniffing technique was used. The r esults, especially of the headspace samples, showed that 1-octen-3-ol, a well-known mushroom aroma compound, is of basic importance for the top note of the investigated mushrooms. More than seventy constituents that additionally have an effect (qualitatively and quantitatively) o n the odour impression of these species were identified. Among them es pecially C-8-derivatives contribute in a significant way to the headsp ace odour of most of the samples. Carbonyls and esters (C4-C-14) on th e other hand play an important role (e.g. anisaldehyde in Agaricus sam ples) more in the steam distillate and extract samples.