Download Edible Mushrooms – A valuable food since the Stone Age

WPD
WISSENSCHAFTLICHER
PRESSEDIENST
Moderne Ernährung heute
3/2016
PUBLISHER: PROF. DR. R. MATISSEK · LEBENSMITTELCHEMISCHES INSTITUT (LCI) DES BUNDESVERBANDES DER DEUTSCHEN SÜSSWARENINDUSTRIE E.V., COLOGNE
ABSTRACT
Edible Mushrooms –
A valuable food since
the Stone Age
Nutritive and pharmacological
properties, cultivation, and uses for
developing vegan food
Prof. Dr. Martin Rühl and Prof. Dr. Holger Zorn, Institute of
Food Chemistry and Food Biotechnology of the Justus Liebig
University of Giessen
Mushrooms do not only come in many variations
with an unmistakable aroma and odour, but –
because of their composition – they also are nutritionally valuable. Some have even been appreciated
for millennia as healing remedies. With the aid of
modern culture systems for the production of fungal
mycelium in fermenters, the nutritional properties
can also be made available for the development of
vegetarian and vegan foods.
EDIBLE MUSHROOMS AS A REMEDY
As many edible mushrooms are used both for food
and medicinally, they can be assigned to the functional foods (nutraceuticals). This is also explained
by the fact that they are increasingly being sold not
only in their fresh form, but also as food supplements made from dried, tabletted fruiting bodies.
Specific varieties of edible mushrooms can contain
ingredients that have lipid-lowering, antimicrobial,
anti-inflammatory and immune-stimulating effects,
as well as a positive impact on the synthesis of nerve
growth factors. Anti-carcinogenic properties have
also been described, which is why e.g. β-glucans
from Shiitake are distributed in Japan for the treatment of cancer.
CultivATION OF EDIBLE MUSHROOMS
Traditionally, edible mushrooms have always been
collected and in China have also been cultivated
for approximately 1,000 years, in Europe since the
17th century. The worldwide production of edible
mushrooms has strongly increased in recent years.
In cultivation, a difference is made between litter
degraders (such as button mushrooms/champignons) and wood decomposers (such as oyster
mushrooms). Whereas nitrogen-rich straw substrates are used for litter degraders, substrates such
as sawdust from hardwoods or even chopped
straw are used for wood decomposers. For both
the induction of the formation of fruiting bodies is
achieved by the same processes: lowering the
ambient temperature, increasing the relative humidity and reducing the CO2 concentration.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF EDIBLE MUSHROOMS
Edible mushrooms are rich in protein, but low in fat
and contain a lot of dietary fibre, vitamins of the
B-group and minerals. The biological value of fungal
protein is typically limited by the concentration of
the amino acids methionine, cysteine, and isoleucine. The main components of the dietary fibre are
chitin, cellulose und β-glucans, whereby chitin may
cause digestive problems in some individuals. Edible
mushrooms also contain ergosterol, which is converted to vitamin D2 following exposure to UV-B
radiation. This principal is used to significantly
increase the vitamin D content in the fruiting bodies.
Because the shelf life of fresh mushrooms is limited,
even with cooling, fruiting bodies are often sold in a
dried form.
Biotechnological Production of EDIBLE
FUNGAL MYCELIUM
Fungi are also cultivated in bioreactors (fermenters) as small pellets of mycelium and typically
marketed after the addition of egg or milk proteins.
Current research projects are working on ways to
produce protein-rich fungal mycelia whose technofunctional properties will allow processing to
produce vegan foods, such as sausage analogues.
Additionally, the use of edible mushrooms for fermentation of e.g. beer wort for the production of new
types of soft drinks is also imaginable.
Legal disclaimer / Publisher, editor and queries: Lebensmittelchemisches Institut (LCI) des Bundesverbandes der Deutschen Süßwarenindustrie e. V.
Prof. Dr. Reinhard Matissek (Legally responsible for the content under the German Press Act) · Adamsstraße 52-54 · 51063 Köln/Germany · Phone: +49 221 623 061 · E-Mail: [email protected]
or :relations Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH · Mörfelder Landstraße 72 · 60598 Frankfurt/Germany · Phone: +49 69 963 652-11 · E-Mail: [email protected]
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