ISMSNEWS Mycoprotein – An umbrella for mushrooms?
A recent article about a new branded mycoprotein product known as ‘Promyc’ really grabbed my attention. ‘Promyc’ is a fungi-based ingre- dient that boasts a neutral taste and fibrous texture and works as a ‘meat-like’ replacement in products such as burgers and nuggets. Its neutral taste also allows applications to extend to protein bars, shakes, puddings, and snacks. It’s a potential competitor to ‘Quorn’, which is a well-established mycoprotein product in retail markets. Promyc is vegan and as good as or better than animal protein. It has a higher percentage of essential amino acids than plant-based proteins. In terms of dry content, Promyc has 60% protein and 12% fibre - the latter of which helps with satiety and weight loss, something that is not present in meat. But wait, there’s more….! There’s no sugar in it and very low carbohydrates, so it’s a perfect protein source for vegan low-carb diets, which is difficult to achieve with peas and beans, or other common protein sources for people with soy allergies. Not only do mycoproteins have fabulous nutritional profile, but they have an impeccable sustainability story. Promyc is produced using fungi bio- technology to produce a healthy and tasty vegan protein using up to 20 times less water and 5000 times less land than traditional methods. Promyc also comes out ahead in relation to CO emissions. Producing 1kg beef emits 25kg of CO equivalent, and tofu emits 1.5kg. Producing 1kg Promyc emits just 1.1kg of CO. In terms of market alignment, it has a very impressive cv. It’s a just about a perfect fit for the LOHAS market (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) which is the fastest growing market in the western world and beginning to gain traction in Asia as incomes increase.
That’s all very interesting, but what has it got to do with mushrooms? A lot in my view. Innovation in the global protein market is escalating and will be grabbing most of the headlines for the foreseeable future. Mycoproteins will be a big part of that story and can provide a perfect umbrella for mushrooms to shout out their own virtues. The challenge for mushrooms and mushroom products, is to develop a generic narrative and positioning that cleverly lets consumers know that mushrooms possess many of the positive attributes of the high profile mycoproteins but have many other unique characteristics that are all wrapped in a natural package.
The story will need to be backed by high quality research and continuing innovation from spawn to spoon.
And talking about high quality research and innovation, there’s only 15 months to go before the 20th ISMS Congress is held in Vancouver, Canada – one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Sponsorship opportunities are available now and potential sponsors are invited to reach out to the NAMC/ISMS team at Evoque Event Management via email at
mushrooms@evoque.ca. The exhibitor information package and registration will be available March 1st, 2020. For more informa- tion, email
mushrooms@evoque.ca. Conference registration and accommodation booking will also be available March 1st, 2020 at
mushroomconference.org.
Greg Seymour President
CULTIVATIONTIPS ADVISIE No more wooden pallets
We all know that the most sensitive moment in the production process is when the spawn is added. Composting companies logically do all they can to disinfect the machines properly, create under pressure in the area where spawning takes place, filter the air, cook out the tunnels, provide the employees with clean clothing and ensure they don’t mix with other production employees and so on.
As a composter, you should be able to safely assume that all the products such as spawn - which arrive from outside - are also equally clean and uninfected. In the past, I have made remarks about statically charged plastic bags of spawn that can attract spores, and dust that collects on spawn bags during long term storage. I think this advice has been taken on board, as measurements I have made did not reveal any serious degree of infections on the outside of spawn bags.
By Con Hermans
AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consul- tants’, Heythuysen
hermans@mushroomconsulting.nl Photo: AdVisie
But something that does still irritate me is the wooden pallets that are often used to trans- port spawn. Everyone knows that wood is an ideal breeding ground for Trichoderma. People say they are new pallets that have been specially treated, but practice shows that this is not always the case, as the photo illustrates. You can see the Trichoderma growing on the wooden pallet when the spawn is unloaded from the trailer. This is certainly not an excepti- onal case and not confined to just one spawn producer. I come across the same situation frequently. Spawn producers should really want to avoid this kind of thing happening. They know just how vital hygiene is in the production process. So: no more wooden pallets - switch to plastic or metal!
20 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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