Egg White Partially Substituted with Mushroom: Taste Impartment with Mushroom Amino Acids, 5′-Nucleotides, Soluble Sugars, and Organic Acids, and Impact Factors

Abstract

Mushroom has the potential to partially substitute egg white with increased flavor and nutrients. This study quantified 36 taste-related substances in 16 developed blends, in which egg whites were partially replaced with white and crimini mushrooms (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%) followed by oven roasting or steaming. EZ:faast gas chromatography–mass spectroscopy was used to quantify 20 free amino acids, while high performance liquid chromatography–UV was used to determine five 5′-nucleotides, six sugars, and five organic acids. Egg white contained limited amounts of all these compounds, which significantly increased (p ≤ 0.05) in the egg white–mushroom blends. When egg whites were substituted with 30% mushrooms, total free amino acids, 5′-nucleotides, soluble sugars, and organic acids reached 5.4–10.1, 2.6–3.7, 53.5–106, and 0.5–2.9 mg/g dry matter, respectively, which increased 260–510, 4.0–6.5, 12–79, and 2.4–4.2 times compared to egg white alone. The majority of these quantified compounds varied along with mushroom varieties (white and crimini) and cooking methods (steam and roast). The blends were mainly differentiated by the mushroom proportions-associated 30 taste-related compounds according to principal component analysis (filtered with compounds cos2 < 0.5). These results demonstrate the contribution of mushroom taste-related compounds to egg white flavor and associated impact factors, providing evidence to increase future mushroom utilization in food product development.

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