Taste properties and thermal stability during processing of Volvariella volvacea Maillard peptides.

V. volvacea is an easy-to-cultivate short-cycle edible mushroom that is rich in protein and high-quality peptides. The V. volvacea peptides, hydrolyzed by alcalase, showed an umami response value of 15.51 ± 0.11 and a salty response value of 4.64 ± 0.27 after the Maillard reaction at 120 °C via electronic tongue. The fluorescence intensity initially increased and subsequently decreased as reaction temperatures rose, and a substantial formation of browning products was observed beyond 120 °C, resulting in a diminished taste perception. High temperatures enhanced the degradation of Maillard intermediates and macromolecular peptides, resulting in an increase in taste peptides. However, the Saltiness Index (SI) of V. volvacea Maillard peptides maintained at approximately 1.40 at 130 °C, with a salinity increase rate of 40 %, and the umami response value rose to 18.85 ± 0.03. As the reaction time increased, both the salty response value and SI slightly increased while umami remained relatively stable; however, the umami value was enhanced significantly with the increasing pH value. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) analysis revealed that reaction temperature had a significant negative correlation with umami, salty, and SI, while reaction time and pH exhibited positive correlations with these factors. This study establishes theoretical foundation for V. volvacea peptide development in food applications.