Outdoor versus indoor cultivation: Effects on the metabolite profile of Agaricus subrufescens strains analyzed by untargeted metabolomics

Agaricus subrufescens has emerged as an important culinary-medicinal mushroom over the last decades. Efforts have been dedicated to upgrade the A. subrufescens productive process via strain selection and cultivation scalingup. However, little is known on the influence of those variables on the metabolite profiles and nutraceutical properties of this mushroom. In this work, the effects of outdoor versus indoor cultivation on the metabolite profiles of five commercial strains of A. subrufescens were investigated by untargeted metabolomics. UHPLC-MS coupled to multivariate data analysis revealed that the concentration of several metabolites with reported healthrelated properties as well as related to taste and browning varied significantly between strains and were affected by the cultivation system in a strain-dependent manner. Data suggest that increasing the production scale by means of indoor cultivation may decrease the nutraceutical quality of some A. subrufescens strains while also affecting taste and browning susceptibility to different extents.

Automated summary

The study investigated the effects of indoor and outdoor cultivation on the metabolite profiles of five commercial strains of A. subrufescens using untargeted metabolomics. It was found that the concentration of several metabolites varied significantly between strains and cultivation systems in a strain-dependent manner. Increasing production scale through indoor cultivation may decrease the nutraceutical quality of some strains while affecting taste and browning susceptibility to different extents.