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Nutrition Profile and Animal-Tested Safety of Morchella esculenta Mycelia Produced by Fermentation in Bioreactors

Summary

This research examined the safety and nutritional value of morel mushroom mycelia grown through fermentation. The study is significant because morel mushrooms are expensive and difficult to collect in nature, so finding a safe way to produce them artificially could make their health benefits more accessible. The research confirmed that the lab-grown mycelia are safe for consumption and nutritionally valuable. Impacts on everyday life: – Provides a safer and more reliable source of nutritious morel mushroom compounds – Could lead to more affordable morel mushroom-based health products – Demonstrates a sustainable alternative to wild mushroom harvesting – Offers a new protein-rich food ingredient option – Creates potential for new functional food products with antioxidant properties

Background

Morchella esculenta (ME), or ‘true’ morel mushrooms, are one of the most expensive mushrooms containing important nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and bioactive compounds. While the fruiting body is difficult to collect in nature and quality is unreliable, cultivation of mycelia represents a useful alternative for large-scale production.

Objective

To examine the nutritional composition and 90-day oral toxicity of fermented ME mycelia in Sprague Dawley rats to confirm their potential use as healthy food ingredients and dietary supplements.

Results

ME mycelia contained 4.20% moisture, 0.32% total ash, 17.17% crude lipid, 39.35% crude protein, 38.96% carbohydrates, and 467.77 kcal/100g energy. The 90-day toxicity study showed no significant changes in mortality, clinical signs, body weight, ophthalmology, and urinalysis. While there were some alterations in hematological and biochemical parameters, organ weights, necropsy findings, and histological markers, these were not considered toxicologically significant.

Conclusion

The study demonstrated that ME mycelia administration does not exhibit toxicity in rats under the experimental conditions. The no-observed-adverse-effects level (NOAEL) was greater than 3000 mg/kg/day, suggesting ME mycelia can be safely used as a novel food at this level.
  • Published in:Foods,
  • Study Type:Animal Study,
  • Source: 10.3390/foods11101385
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