Abstract: The dried fruiting bodies of 12 main shiitake (Lentinula edodes) cultivars in China obtained under identical conditions of medium formulation, spawn running, coloring, fruiting and postharvest treatment were analyzed for free amino acids, 5’-nucleotides and equivalent umami concentration (EUC) by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that the contents of various amino acids in different cultivars were different while the contents of total amino acids in the 939 and Shen 8 cultivars were similar. Asp was 3.7 times more abundant in 939 than in Shen 8. The content of umami amino acids in Wuxiang was the highest among the cultivars evaluated ((5.76 ± 0.13) mg/g), which was 1.2 times higher than that of 135. The 605 cultivar contained the highest content of sweet amino acids (14.35 ± 0.32) mg/g, which was 2.6 times compared with Cr04. The content of flavor nucleotides in 605 was the highest ((5.24 ± 0.27) mg/g), which was 3.3 times compared with 808. Overall, Shenxiang 10 showed the highest EUC ((342.1 ± 4.61) g MSG/100 g).

Key words: Lentinus edodes, cultivars, equivalent umami concentration, flavor components