White agrocybe cylindracea outperforms the brown strain in nutritional value, flavor profile, and anticancer activity

Agrocybe cylindracea , an edible and medicinal mushroom, comprises white (BC) and brown (CS) strains. The white strain is a new cultivar whose nutritional value remains unexplored. Nutritional components and bioactivities of BC and CS were compared using electronic nose, electronic tongue, texture analyzer, chromatography, taste re-addition experiments, and cytotoxicity assays. BC showed significantly higher crude polysaccharides, soluble protein, crude fiber, equivalent umami concentration, taste-active compounds (free amino acids and 5′-nucleotides), and stronger sourness, bitterness, sweetness, and umami than CS. Aspartic acid, glutamine, tryptophan, lysine, and 5′-cytidylic acid mainly contributed to sourness; glutamine and tryptophan to umami. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) identified 41 (BC) and 37 (CS) volatiles with distinct aroma profiles. Both strains inhibited HCT116 and HGC27 proliferation via elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). This first systematic comparison demonstrates BC exceeds CS in nutritional value, flavor, and anticancer activity.