Comparative metabolome classification of desert truffles Terfezia claveryi and Terfezia boudieri via its aroma and nutrients profile

Desert truffles are popular ectomycorrhizal fungi valued worldwide for their nutritional and traditional health benefits. Herein, two chief desert truffles viz., Terfezia claveryi and T. boudieri were assessed for their metabolites heterogeneity in context of their volatile sensory and nutrients profile as analyzed via GC-MS. Primary metabolites accounting for nutritive indices in T. claveryi and T. boudieri were investigated with 61 peaks belonging to sugars, sugar alcohols and amino acids. After headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), a total of 106 volatiles were annotated belonging to alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, esters, ethers and furans. The abundance of oxygenated monoterpenes as antimicrobials rationalizes for the folk use of desert truffles against trachoma. Benzyl isothiocyanate was detected as the sulfur containing volatile component in desert truffle and absent from truffles. Multivariate data analyses (MVA) revealed that 1-octen-3-ol and 3-octanone were the most significantly contributors in the discrimination of T. claveryi and T. boudieri specimens. Being more enriched in essential amino acids, T. claveryi provided a better sugar diet composition concurrent with lower sugars and higher sugar alcohols compared to T. boudieri. This study provides the first insight into desert truffles metabolites and sensory composition, and to account for its culinary and medicinal uses.