Will artificial flesh eventually be made of fungi?
Kansas City Plants might not be used as meat substitutes in the future. While food producers scramble to launch new products based on soy, wheat, and peas, a few start-ups have been hard at work creating a novel meat substitute made of fungi.
Two startups in the industry are getting ready to release their first goods this year. Boulder, Colorado-based Emergy Foods is collaborating with chefs to refine their alternative to steak, which will make its restaurant debut under the recently launched Meati brand.
2020 will also see the release of Prime Roots, formerly Terramino Foods, a Berkeley, California-based company. The company makes a variety of seafood dishes, such as salmon burgers, shrimp, lobster, and tuna, in addition to chicken, sausage, and beef, using Koji, a Japanese fungus that is typically used to make soy sauce and sake.
According to the start-ups, fungi have a number of benefits over traditional plant-based proteins. A greater range of meat varieties and cuts are made possible by the fibrous texture. Since the flavor is neutral, masking chemicals are not necessary. Its nutritional power rivals that of plants and matches that of meat, while its production demands are minimal in terms of land, energy, and water.
How it is manufactured
Meats made from fungi are primarily produced in laboratories, negating the need for agriculture altogether. Mycelium, the vegetative portion of a fungus made up of branching, thread-like strands, is the essential ingredient.
Both businesses grow their own mycelium in huge tanks, supplementing it with sugar and other minerals to promote growth. After harvesting, it is prepared and spiced to taste like meat.
Tyler Huggins, co-founder and CEO of Emergy Foods, stated that compared to traditional plant-based meat, the approach requires less time and resources.
“It all comes down to the amount of resources you put in and how much protein you can produce,” he stated. “We convert raw materials into protein with a higher efficiency than any other known natural system.”
The finished items are also less expensive to create because a significant portion of the supply chain is eliminated during the process.
COO and co-founder of Prime Roots Kimberlie Le stated, “Our current cost of production on a small scale is already competitive with industrialized meat.” “We have a far higher level of competition than other plant-based proteins available on the market. However, I believe that the higher-quality product is what we gain most significantly.
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Managing the lack of labour for mushroom picking
similar meat
Mycelium’s long, branching fibers are well adapted to resemble the texture of entire muscle, unlike other meat substitutes that use plant protein isolates to mimic the finely minced texture of ground meat.
According to Ms. Le, “the Koji has a texture that is very similar to chicken breast fibers when we grow it.” This enables us to produce a wide range of additional goods, including entire muscle cuts like steak or chicken breasts. In order to replicate the feel of ground beef, we must really crush down those fibers to make them smaller.
Just altering the fat ratios will fine-tune the product to suit various meat varieties. Natural fragrances added after harvest and minerals provided throughout production work together to helpgenerate a flavor that is convincingly meaty.
Comparing ourselves to other businesses in our industry, Ms. Le stated, “it’s actually quite simple for us because we don’t have any off flavors of soy or pea or the traditional problems with plant-based alternatives.” “We focus more on enhancing the umami and meaty notes that the Koji naturally possesses by adding layers of natural flavors.”
surpassing vegetation
Meats made from fungi could be a good substitute for heavily processed plant-based diets, which frequently lose part of their original nutrients. Products from Emergy Foods and Prime Roots offer many of the fibers, vitamins, and minerals found in plants, while matching or surpassing the protein content of traditional meat.
“It’s critical to pay attention to customer concerns regarding highly processed ingredients and address those issues,” Ms. Le stated. “Using plant protein, that will take a lot longer to accomplish.”
Getting customers to understand the distinctions between meats derived from plants and fungi could be difficult. Though technically they form their own kingdom apart from both plants and animals, the F.D.A. now defines mushrooms and other fungus as plants.
As of right now, Mr. Huggins stated, “this is the best way to educate consumers.” The goal, in my opinion, is to move away from that and toward “fungi-based meat” or “fungi-based protein,” as they have far superior nutritional profiles than plants. We do believe that being excluded from that group has benefits.
Although Emergy Foods is concentrating on introducing its Meati brand steaks to the food service market, the company also intends to introduce a chicken breast in the future. In the long run, Mr. Huggins wants to increase large food manufacturers’ access to protein derived from fungi.
“They are in a desperate search for a plant-based protein source that is nutrient-dense, high in protein, and has a neutral or appealing flavor profile,” he stated. “Scaling as quickly as feasible is our top priority. We can enter other B2B markets once we reach the stage where we have increased supply.
Twelve of Prime Roots’ products are prepared for market release. The corporation is choosing which products to launch initially based on input from customers.
Diversity in product offerings will be crucial, according to Ms. Le. “I believe we will be leading the charge there.”