Cultivation Method-Driven Aroma Diversification in Antrodia cinnamomea: GC-IMS and Bioelectronic Sensors Reveal Distinctive Volatile Fingerprints

<i>Antrodia cinnamomea</i>, a renowned rare medicinal fungus in China, is rich in active components, exhibiting pharmacological effects, such as liver protection, hypoglycemic activity, and anti-tumor properties. Aiming to address the lack of horizontal comparative studies on volatile components of <i>A. cinnamomea</i> under different culture methods and the limitations of traditional detection methods, this study investigated the mycelia of <i>A. cinnamomea</i> cultured by solid-state culture (SAC), liquid culture (LAC), and dish culture (DAC). The flavor profiles were comprehensively evaluated using a combination of electronic tongue (E-tongue), electronic nose (E-nose), gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS), and multivariate statistical methods. Results from E-tongue and E-nose showed distinct flavor profiles among the three culture methods. A total of 75 volatile compounds were detected by GC-IMS, among which esters, alcohols, and ketones were the main components, accounting for 62.7%. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) identified 41 characteristic volatile compounds, and cluster heatmaps and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) further validated the metabolic preferences among culture methods. These findings provide a scientific basis for improving <i>A. cinnamomea</i> product quality through targeted flavor enhancement, support the development of standardized functional foods, and establish a flavor fingerprint for authenticity assessment, advancing the high-value utilization of this medicinal fungus.