Mycoprotein: production and nutritional aspects: a review

To feed the increasing world population, finding sustainable sources of meat substitutes has become necessary. Mycoprotein, derived from filamentous fungi, is a good meat alternative as it provides nutrition and has some additional health benefits over conventional meat. It can act as a prebiotic, antioxidant, blood cholesterol level regulator, and blood glucose level regulator. It also plays a significant role in muscle protein development. Mycoprotein production is carried out by submerged fermentation, solid-state fermentation, or surface culture method. The yield of the mycoprotein depends on the type of microorganism or substrate used for the production. Different research studies have proved that mycoprotein produced by submerged fermentation has a higher yield and more nutritional benefits. The Food and Drug Administration gave certain fungal species the Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status. Some of the species include Monascus purpureus, Aspergillus oryzae, Paradendryphiella salina, Neurospora intermedia, Rhizopus oryzae and Fusarium venenatum. This fungal product has less environmental impact than conventional meat protein. The carbon footprint of mycoprotein is 10 and 4 times less than that of beef and chicken, respectively. Although some limitations are there, i.e., less protein, nausea, vomiting, sub-chronic toxicity, and allergic reactions, mycoprotein may be widely accepted by the vegetarian population in the future as a meat replacer.