Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis of the Changes to Key Non-volatile Taste Components in Stropharia rugosoannulata Under Different Drying Methods

Stropharia rugosoannulata is an extremely perishable edible fungi product, and drying can delay its deterioration, however, drying will affect its flavor, especially the non-volatile taste substances dominated by amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids and carbohydrates. Currently, which drying method is the most suitable for the drying of S. rugosoannulata remains unknown, we need to fully consider the economic efficiency of the method and the impact on flavor. But we have limited comprehensive knowledge of the changed non-volatile taste metabolites as caused by drying processes. Here, an LC-MS/MS-based widely targeted metabolome analysis was conducted to investigate the transformation mechanism of S. rugosoannulata non-volatile taste components after undergoing hot air drying (HAD), vacuum freeze drying (VFD), and microwave vacuum drying (MVD). A total of 826 metabolites were identified, 89 of which—48 amino acids, 25 nucleotides, 8 organic acids, and 8 carbohydrates—were related to non-volatile taste. The drying method used and the parts of S. rugosoannulata (stipe and pileus) influenced the differences found in these metabolites. The possible mechanisms responsible for such chemical alterations by different drying methods were also investigated by a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis. Amino acid metabolism (alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism; glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism; arginine and proline metabolism; valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis) was the main metabolic pathway involved. Pathway enrichment analysis also identified differences in non-volatile taste components among three drying methods that may be closely related to the applied drying temperature. Altogether, the results indicated that as an economical and convenient drying method, HAD is conducive to improving the flavor of S. rugosoannulata and thus it harbors promising potential for practical applications.