Multiple headspace-solid-phase microextraction: An application to quantification of mushroom volatiles

Multiple headspace-solid phase microextraction (MHS-SPME) followed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and flame ionization detection (GC–FID) was applied to the identification and quantification of volatiles released by the mushroom Agaricus bisporus, also known as champignon. MHS-SPME allows to perform quantitative analysis of volatiles from solid matrices, free of matrix interferences. Samples analyzed were fresh mushrooms (chopped and homogenized) and mushroom-containing food dressings. 1-Octen-3-ol, 3-octanol, 3-octanone, 1-octen-3-one and benzaldehyde were common constituents of the samples analyzed. Method performance has been tested through the evaluation of limit of detection (LoD, range 0.033–0.078 ng), limit of quantification (LoQ, range 0.111–0.259 ng) and analyte recovery (92.3–108.5%). The results obtained showed quantitative differences among the samples, which can be attributed to critical factors, such as the degree of cell damage upon sample preparation, that are here discussed. Considerations on the mushrooms biochemistry and on the basic principles of MHS analysis are also presented.

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► Multiple headspace extraction-solid phase microextraction (MHS-SPME) has been applied to the analysis of Agaricus bisporus.
► Mushroom flavor is characterized by the presence of compounds with a 8-carbon atoms skeleton.
► Formation of 8-carbon compounds involves a unique fungal biochemical pathway.
► The MHS-SPME allowed to determine quantitatively 5 target analytes of A. bisporus for the first time.