Enhancement of 1-octen-3-ol in Lentinus edodes Maillard peptides through exogenous linoleic acid and its synergistic effect with L-cysteine

Extra-added L-cysteine effectively inhibited the browning of Maillard peptides (MPs) derived from Lentinus edodes. Meanwhile, an unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) was introduced to increase the content of 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom alcohol) to enhance the mushroom aroma of the MPs. Among the three UFAs tested, linoleic acid (LA) exhibited the strongest promoting effect on 1-octen-3-ol, resulting in a 1-octen-3-ol content of 74.57 ± 1.48 μg/L in MPs. When LA was co-heated with L-cysteine and/or xylose, a synergistic effect was observed between LA and L-cysteine, leading to the highest 1-octen-3-ol content of 211.29 ± 3.62 μg/L in LA-L-cysteine-xylose system. The enzymatic hydrolysate of commercial safflower seed oil was further used as an alternative source of LA to fortify the typical mushroom flavor. The incorporation of 25 % safflower seed oil hydrolysate was recommended to enhance the 1-octen-3-ol production (133.09 ± 8.74 μg/L) in MPs. These findings provide new ideas for enhancing the mushroom aroma, offering potential applications in flavor design and food processing.