Mycelium: A Nutrient-Dense Food To Help Address World Hunger, Promote Health, and Support a Regenerative Food System

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 72; no. 5; pp. 2697 - 2707
• Main Authors: Holt, Roberta R., Munafo, John P., Salmen, Julie, Keen, Carl L., Mistry, Behroze S., Whiteley, Justin M., Schmitz, Harold H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 07.02.2024
• Subjects: Food and Beverage Chemistry/Biochemistry; Food Supply; Health Promotion; Humans; Hunger; Malnutrition; Micronutrients; Mycelium; mycelium; mycofoods; micronutrients; sustainability; protein; hunger
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03307

There is a need for transformational innovation within the existing food system to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 of ending hunger within a sustainable agricultural system by 2030. Mycelium, the vegetative growth form of filamentous fungi, may represent a convergence of several features crucial for the development of food products that are nutritious, desirable, scalable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable. Mycelium has gained interest as technology advances demonstrate its ability to provide scalable biomass for food production delivering good flavor and quality protein, fiber, and essential micronutrients urgently needed to improve public health. We review the potential of mycelium as an environmentally sustainable food to address malnutrition and undernutrition, driven by food insecurity and caloric dense diets with less than optimal macro- and micronutrient density.