Why do mushrooms smell of this?
Enzymes in the mushroom break down linoleic acid, and 1-octen-3-ol is one of the products. A lipoxygenase enzyme converts linoleic acid into 10-hydroperoxy-8E, 12Z-octadecenoic acid, then a hydroperoxide lyase enzyme breaks a C-C bond, generating 1-octen-3-ol and 10-oxo-trans-8-decenoic acid (ODA). In plants, different enzymes break down linoleic acid in other ways, leading to molecules like hexenal (March 2005 MOTM). Natural 1-octen-3-ol and ODA can be produced with a crude enzyme homogenate from mushrooms in a bioreactor, and this process is used industrially to make 1-octen-3-ol.