Vegan-mycoprotein concentrate from pea-processing industry byproduct using edible filamentous fungi

Abstract

BackgroundCurrently around one billion people in the world do not have access to a diet which provides enough protein and energy. However, the production of one of the main sources of protein, animal meat, causes severe impacts on the environment. The present study investigates the production of a vegan-mycoprotein concentrate from pea-industry byproduct (PpB), using edible filamentous fungi, with potential application in human nutrition. Edible fungal strains of Ascomycota (Aspergillus oryzae, Fusarium venenatum, Monascus purpureus, Neurospora intermedia) and Zygomycota (Rhizopus oryzae) phyla were screened and selected for their protein production yield.ResultsA. oryzae had the best performance among the tested fungi, with a protein yield of 0.26 g per g of pea-processing byproduct from the bench scale airlift bioreactor cultivation. It is estimated that by integrating the novel fungal process at an existing pea-processing industry, about 680 kg of fungal biomass attributing to about 38% of extra protein could be produced for each 1 metric ton of pea-processing byproduct. This study is the first of its kind to demonstrate the potential of the pea-processing byproduct to be used by filamentous fungi to produce vegan-mycoprotein for human food applications.ConclusionThe pea-processing byproduct (PpB) was proved to be an efficient medium for the growth of filamentous fungi to produce a vegan-protein concentrate. Moreover, an industrial scenario for the production of vegan-mycoprotein concentrate for human nutrition is proposed as an integrated process to the existing PPI production facilities.

Fungi Burger from Stale Bread? A Case Study on Perceptions of a Novel Protein-Rich Food Product Made from an Edible Fungus

“…Biotechnological developments have attempted to address demands to provide appropriately protein-rich food (e.g., [ 14 , 15 ]). Efforts to improve the nutritive value of plants often focus on chemical, physical, and enzymatic treatments, but biological treatments may offer an approach that is gentler to the environment [ 16 ]. One way of doing so is to produce fungi-based proteins.…”

Recreation of in-host acquired single nucleotide polymorphisms by CRISPR-Cas9 reveals an uncharacterised gene playing a role in Aspergillus fumigatus azole resistance via a non-cyp51A mediated resistance mechanism

“…This expectation was confirmed, reinforcing the association of this mutation with itraconazole resistance but not high level posaconazole resistance (Chen et al, 2005, Diaz-Guerra et al, 2003, Howard et al, 2006, Mann et al, 2003, Nascimento et al, 2003, Xu et al, 2010). No other phenotypic changes were observed, suggesting minimal off target effects of CRISPR-Cas9 in A. fumigatus (Al Abdallah et al, 2018, Al Abdallah et al, 2017, Umeyama et al, 2018). The resistance mechanism conferring this high level posaconazole resistance in V157-39 remains unknown.…”

Is There Scope for a Novel Mycelium Category of Proteins alongside Animals and Plants?

“…SCPs grow rapidly and have a high protein content yet have minimal dependence of soil, water and climate conditions [ 92 ]. Some work has investigated the production of a vegan-based mycoprotein concentrate using a pea-industry by-product, again using edible filamentous fungi [ 93 ]. It was proposed that this protein source could help to provide protein and energy to the one billion people in the world failing to have access to this [ 93 ].…”