Inside Europe’s leading alternative protein research lab

Amid looming global food shortages, scientists are trying to transform alternative food into options that are not only sustainable but also tasty and appealing.

As part of this mission, researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have recently studied the culinary potential of mycelium.

“Mycelium is comparable to the root structure of plants, although fungi are actually not plants,”  Dr Loes van Dam, researcher at the Technical University of Denmark, told Euronews Next.

The team used Pleurotus ostreatus, commonly known as the oyster mushroom, in their experiments. While the fungi’s mushrooms are widely eaten in the world, the culinary qualities of its root structure have largely been unexplored, the researchers say. 

Mycelium can grow on different substrates – organic surfaces like soil, for instance – which affects how they taste. 

“So you can manipulate it a little bit. What we noticed specifically in our research on the oyster mushroom mycelium is that when we use different substrates, we also get very different flavour and texture profiles,” van Dam said.

It can even grow rapidly on waste materials, such as coffee grounds and wood, researchers say, demonstrating its potential as a sustainable protein alternative. 

This can create a more circular food system, they say.

To get insights into what makes this strain unique compared to others, researchers used a method called genome sequencing, allowing them to examine the fungi’s “instruction manual” or how it grows, metabolises nutrients, and produces flavour and texture.

“One of the experiments we did was actually to look at the genomic data of our strain. So we use DNA to decode our fungi,” said van Dam.

“So if they’re really similar, we can actually maybe assume that we can safely consume all of these fungi”. 

The research team found the oyster mushroom’s mycelium was rich in protein and contained crucial micronutrients such as vitamin B5 and provitamin D2 while toxin levels in the mycelium were significantly lower than in the fruiting bodies that are already considered safe for consumption.

Mycelium also grew more rapidly than the mushrooms, making it well-suited for industrial-scale production.

In a lab survey, an untrained panel of 72 people had a positive response to the bare mycelium dish grown on an edible broth, saying it tasted like umami or a cooked meat flavour.

Some negative feedback included that it was bitter, mouldy, and peanut-like.

ADVERTISEMENT

Culinary potential tested in fine dining

The research team also partnered with a two-star Michelin restaurant in Copenhagen, called Alchemist, to study consumer reaction.

“Food extends far beyond academic research, so it was vital that – as well as establishing that this new product is safe and nutritious – we were able to work with chefs to demonstrate that it could be part of an enjoyable dining experience,” van Dam said in a press release.

Chefs at Alchemist developed a dish using the mycelium, pairing it with a foam sauce made from mushrooms and dots of thickened apple balsamic vinegar. Diners reportedly enjoyed the dish.

Consistent and scalable production was the biggest challenge for the research team as the restaurant needed about 60 Petri dishes of mycelium per serving.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Because it’s biology, not all of them grow uniformly. So they had specific requirements on how beautiful they should look. And so we had to produce quite a lot to make enough dishes for everybody to eat and enjoy,” said van Dam.

Inside the lab

At a lab inside the Technical University of Denmark, researchers continue to explore the potential for fungi to be used as meat and seafood replacements.

Texture, nutrition, and safety are key areas of interest for the lab team who work on making food alternatives with fungi. 

“We wanted to, of course, make sure that it’s actually safe to eat. But also on top of that, we wanted to make it very delicious to eat because otherwise who’s going to eat it?” van Dam said.

ADVERTISEMENT

By cultivating and testing mycelia from various mushroom species, the researchers aim to identify strains with the best combination of texture, flavour, and nutritional value.

They are also working to show how the mycelia could be served to consumers in a kitchen at the university, for instance, with a proof of concept dish made with fungi served in an oyster shell with foam and sauce.

Researchers are using technologies such as a texture analyser which compresses the sample and measures resistance. 

“We’re actually mimicking the chewing motion of the mouth to measure what the texture of a specific sample is,” van Dam said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The machine generates undulating lines on a screen representing the resistance and elasticity of the fungi, key attributes when designing food products that replicate the experience of eating meat or seafood.

The research team at this lab is working to eventually create a ‘whole-cut’ product with the texture of seafood, by using the fungi.

The European Commission has granted €252 million for alternative protein research since 2020, according to a report from the Good Food Institute Europe, a non-profit that helped to fund the project.

Denmark, the UK, Finland, and the Netherlands are leading in the creation of these plant-based foods, cultivated meat and fermentation-made foods, the report also found.

ADVERTISEMENT

Denmark stands out with the highest number of scientists per capita working in the field, the most research papers published per capita, and three of Europe’s leading institutions for alternative protein research – including the Technical University of Denmark.

For more on this story, watch the video in the media player above.