Widely targeted metabolomics reveals color-dependent differences in bioactive compounds and antioxidant activities of edible fungi Flammulina filiformis (enoki mushroom) cultivars.

Dark brown Flammulina filiformis is a new cultivar of commercial potential. Here, nutritional composition, antioxidant capacity and widely targeted metabolomics of dark brown, white and yellow cultivars were investigated; correlations between metabolites and antioxidant capacity were analyzed. The yellow cultivar showed the highest total sugars (79.31 ± 6.54 mg/g) and crude protein (48.99 ± 3.22 mg/g), whereas the dark brown had the highest crude fat (37.20 ± 0.44 mg/g) and strongest antioxidant activity (DPPH 5.69 ± 0.15, FRAP 1.63 ± 0.07 μmol Trolox/g). Clear metabolic differentiation was observed between them; terpenoids, phenolic acids, coumarins and lignans were enriched in dark brown cultivar, with upregulated tryptophan metabolism pathway. Phenolic acids and terpenoids showed significant positive correlations with DPPH (r = 0.947, 0.878, respectively; P < 0.05) and FRAP (ρ = 0.933, 0.883, respectively; P < 0.05). These results provide comprehensive understandings of colored F. filiformis and the metabolite's contribution to its quality formation.