Three species of mushroom mycelia are commercially available in Taiwan, namely Grifola frondosa (maitake), Morchella esculenta (morel), and Termitomyces albuminosus (termite mushroom), and their nonvolatile taste components were studied. All mycelia were high in contents of carbohydrate, crude fat and protein but low in contents of crude ash and fiber. Arabitol, glucose, mannitol and trehalose were detected in these three mycelia and total amounts of sugars and polyols were 63.69–83.89 mg/g. Total free amino acid contents in three mycelia ranged from 35.67 to 50.37 mg/g. The monosodium glutamate-like components of G. frondosa mycelia (6.51 mg/g) was approximately twofold higher than M. esculenta and T. albuminosus mycelia (3.58 and 3.11 mg/g, respectively). As compared with other components, sweet and bitter components were much higher in these three mycelia. Contents of total 5′-nucleotides in these three mycelia ranged from 13.32 to 26.19 mg/g and were in the descending order of T. albuminosus>M. esculenta>G. frondosa. Equivalent umami concentration of T. albuminosus mycelia was higher than those of G. frondosa and M. esculenta mycelia. Overall, three mycelia possessed highly intense umami taste.
