Nordic wild edible mushrooms have an
annual harvest of billions of kilograms, but only a fraction of this harvest is
utilized as food. There is anecdotal evidence of the highly varying odour
profiles of edible mushroom species in guidebooks, but scientific examination
of these differences is still scarce. Volatile compounds of Nordic mushrooms were
last analysed 40 years ago from extracts, but there haven’t been published headspace
analyses of these mushrooms. The aim of this study was to screen the volatile
compounds of wild edible Nordic mushrooms such as Cantharellus tubaeformis (also called Funnel Chanterelle) and Lactifluus volemus.

The mushroom samples from different
species were preserved with either drying or freezing. Volatile compounds were
extracted from headspace using solid phase micro extraction (SPME) with a StableFlex
(divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethyl siloxane) fibre. The extraction protocol
was optimised with a factorial design and simplex methodology. SPME samples
were analysed using gas chromatograph coupled to either a flame ionization
detector or a mass spectrometer. Compounds were identified with reference
compounds and spectral library (Wiley 275).

A total of over 100 volatile compounds were detected
in the headspace of different mushroom samples. Typical compound groups were
hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, furans and monoterpenes with
strongly varying proportions between mushroom species. To examine which
compounds contribute to the perceived aroma of mushrooms, the samples will be
analysed further with GC-olfaction methods.