Mycelium is usually thought of an excellent protein supply on the earth of meat-free meat analogues. Alongside mycoprotein, it is likely one of the most promising fungal protein sources.
Nonetheless, shopper disgust stays a barrier. Many affiliate mycelium with mould, which isn’t precisely essentially the most appetising of issues to place in your mouth.
A brand new examine, revealed within the journal Meals High quality & Choice, explored what customers consider mycelium, and whether or not it may possibly ever actually be accepted by customers.
Why is mycelium necessary?
Based on the UN’s Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO), growing international populations and dwelling requirements are more likely to double the world’s demand for high-quality protein between 2000 and 2050. This provides us two choices: dramatically develop animal protein manufacturing, exponentially growing land use within the course of, and sure resulting in extra greenhouse fuel emissions; or discover different sources of protein to take off a few of the load.
Enter mycelium. In mushroom-forming fungi, the fruiting a part of the organism – the mushroom itself – is simply a small a part of all the factor. A lot of the remaining is mycelium. Thus, sourcing proteins from not solely the mushroom itself, however the mycelium as effectively, offers additional alternatives.
What’s mycelium?
Mycelium, according to Royal Botanic Kew Gardens, is a collection of fungal strands that attain into the earth beneath a fungus, taking part in an identical position to roots in crops. It’s excessive in protein, making it an excellent meat-free protein different.
Moreover, mushrooms are sustainable as a result of they are often grown on used substrates (the bottom on which an organism grows). The sustainability advantages of rising mushrooms doesn’t attain its full potential when mycelium isn’t consumed.
How do customers resolve whether or not to simply accept mycelium?
In anticipating whether or not customers could be keen to simply accept mycelium, the researchers hypothesised that buyers would use a risk-benefit evaluation, weighing up the professionals and cons of consumption, together with the perceived social worth of stated consumption. The chance-benefit evaluation could be influenced negatively by disgust, however positively by perceived naturalness, the paper prompt.
Disgust expresses danger, the chance of illness being an evolutionary precursor to a disgust response. As a detrimental attribute, it additionally influences perceived social worth of mycelium. Some disgust amongst customers might stem from substrates, resembling manure, that’s used for some mycelium, and additional disgust from the affiliation of mycelium itself with mould. Nonetheless, the researchers predicted that eradicating visible disgust cues, for instance by way of processing, would make customers much less more likely to really feel stated disgust.
Moreover, they predicted that perceived naturalness would offset the degrees of disgust felt in customers. The degrees of processing will affect this notion, they hypothesised, with extra processed mycelium perceived as much less pure.
Testing totally different mycelium merchandise
To be able to check out shopper disgust, the researchers gave mycelium to the examine’s members at a wide range of ranges of processing: a pure mycelium mould cake (1 on the Nova Classification) mycelium protein powder (2 on Nova) and a burger utilizing mycelium protein (4 on Nova). The researchers additionally used three totally different substrates – horse manure combined with straw, hardwood logs, and a glucose resolution with added nutritional vitamins and minerals. Thus, there have been 9 potential combos.
The researchers predicted that, whereas a extra processed mycelium product (the burger) would provoke much less disgust within the shopper, it could even have decrease perceived naturalness. With the mycelium mould cake, it could be the reverse.
Individuals have been examined for the degrees of acceptability they felt in direction of the product, the degrees of disgust they felt in direction of it, danger vs profit, perceived naturalness, and the degrees of social worth that they perceived it could give them. Completely different members have been proven totally different combos of mycelium product and substrate.
Will customers settle for mycelium?
The outcomes confirmed that, as predicted, unprocessed mycelium cake did certainly evoke essentially the most disgust, in contrast with the burger, though the protein powder evoked the least disgust. Nonetheless, the burger was perceived because the least pure, adopted by protein powder after which mycelium cake. Naturalness and disgust are nearly synonymous.
Because the researchers had predicted, disgust had a detrimental impact on members’ benefit-risk trade-off, whereas naturalness had a constructive impact. Disgust additionally had a detrimental impact on percieved social worth, whereas naturalness had a constructive impact on that as effectively.
In conclusion, the researchers counsel the truth that disgust is felt extra strongly for merchandise with a perceived naturalness signifies customers recognise the significance of meals processing for product security.
Virtually, the examine means that naturalness and disgust should be balanced out for maximal enchantment to the patron.
Sourced From: Meals High quality & Choice
‘Client acceptance of mycelium as protein supply’
Revealed on: 18 August 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105304
Authors: A. R.H. Fischer, O. Hilboesen
