갈색양송이는 백색양송이보다 병에 강하고 재배관리가 쉬워 농가에서 재배를 하고 싶지만, 아직 국내 소비자들의 인식이 부족하여 일부 친환경 농가에서만 재배를 하고 있는 실정이다. 이에 갈색양송이에 대한 1분정도의 동영상으로 사전 정보를 준 후 인지도와 선호도를 SNS로 설문조사를 실시하였고, 설문 응답자의 200명을 임의로 선정하여 식미평가를 진행하였다. 설문 응답자의 83%가 갈색양송이를 접한 적이 없다고 했으며, 동영상으로 정보를 접한 후 98%가 ‘맛에 대한 호기심’(44%)의 이유로 구매 의사를 밝혔다. 식미평가에서는 갈색양송이가 32%가 ‘맛있다’, 31%가 ‘식감이 좋다’, 28%가 ‘향이 좋다’로 응답 하였다. 또한 섭취 후에 95%가 갈색 양송이 구매를 원하는 것으로 확인되었다. 이 결과로 갈색양송이에 대한 대중적 인식, 선호, 식미와 버섯에 영양성분과 기능성에 대한 정보가 소비로 이루어 진다는 것을 확인하였다.
Cultivation of brown mushrooms, rather than that of white variants is preferred by Korean mushroom farmers, as the former are resistant to diseases. However, brown mushrooms were cultivated only in selective eco-friendly agricultural farms due to lack of consumer awareness. After providing information about brown mushrooms to respondents through a 1-minute video clip, a survey was conducted on social network service (SNS) to assess recognition and preference for brown mushrooms. A food evaluation was then conducted among 200 people randomly selected from the survey respondents. Most respondents (83%) had not encountered brown button mushrooms previously, and 98% of the respondents were willing to buy these mushrooms because they were “curious about its taste” (44%). In the food evaluation, 32% of the respondents found the brown button mushrooms to be delicious, 28% reported a good flavor, and 31% described a good texture. In addition, we confirmed that 95% of respondents were interested in purchasing brown mushrooms after sampling. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated public perception, preference, and taste of brown button mushrooms, and confirmed that availability of information on nutrition and benefits s of mushroom consumption could induce consumers to buy brown button mushrooms.