Abstract: In this paper, the effect of three different treatments: atmospheric pressure cooking, high pressure cooking and sequential enzymatic hydrolysis with cellulase followed by flavorzyme on the release of flavor compounds from the edible straw mushroom Volvariella volvacea. Soluble sugar, organic acid, 5’-nucleotide, free amino acid composition and molecular mass distribution of peptides in the hydrolysates were measured. The results showed that the total amount of soluble sugar in the mushroom homogenate was significantly decreased after atmospheric pressure cooking, while high pressure cooking hardly altered the total content of soluble sugar and sugar alcohol. The enzymatic treatment significantly increased the soluble sugar content. The total organic acid content was significantly increased after cooking, but significantly decreased after enzymatic hydrolysis. All three treatments especially high pressure cooking could elevate the total free amino acid content; the contents of umami amino acids, sweet amino acids and bitter amino acids were all significantly after high pressure cooking, and the amount of peptides higher than 3 000 Da was reduced after both cooking treatments. The high pressure cooked sample contained the highest content of peptides lower than 3 000 Da and was an important source of taste peptides. Thus different treatments showed significant differences in the release of taste compounds from the mushroom, and proper treatment should be used depending on the desired flavor substances.

Key words: straw mushroom, chemical composition, treatments, flavor substances, release