Edible Mushrooms and Utilisation as Meat Analogues

Abstract

Mushrooms contain many bioactive compounds that exhibit various biological activities, including glycoproteins, polysaccharides, terpenoids, steroids, phenols, nucleotides and their derivatives. Edible mushrooms are a class of edible and medicinal mushrooms that can be consumed by humans, vary in shape, and have medicinal value. Edible macrofungi (large mushrooms) are rich in protein and other nutrients and do not require large land areas for cultivation, making them an ideal raw material for the production of meat analogues. Additionally, they are rich in flavoring substances and have advantages over animal meat and plant-based meat analogues in terms of allergens. Therefore, edible macrofungi are quite suitable for making meat analogues. Mycelial fungi have been grown and used for generations in the production of food, food ingredients (e.g. citric acid, vinegar), feed, enzymes, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and more. Recently, a movement has emerged to develop meat-like products from fungal mycelium grown in fermenters rather than solid fruiting bodies.