IMFUN

"Improving plant raw materials through conversion by mushroom fungi for food applications."

The aim of the project is to improve the nutritional value of side streams from food industry through conversion by mushroom fungi.

⌐ The project has been granted 4.996.505 DKK in funding.  
⌐ The project starts on on 1 May 2025 and will end on 31 December 2027.

Introducing the IMFUN project

Background for the project:

Large amounts of food-grade vegetable side streams that are safe for consumption are generated from food industry. However, these often are unsuitable for food applications due to their poor nutritional value and suboptimal texture and flavor. These side streams or underutilized Plant Raw Materials (UPRM) should somehow have to be reused when aiming for a circular economy. An alternative for traditional chemical and mechanical methods to improve UPRM is leveraging edible mushroom fungi (EMF) to turn UPRM into nutritious food-ingredients. EMF can grow on a wide variety of UPRM containing lignocellulose and polyphenol compounds that resist chemical or mechanical processing. To successfully upcycle UPRM to food-ingredients using EMF understanding which species and UPRM sources are compatible under which cultivation conditions, as well as the effect of the combinations and conditions on the conversion process of the UPRM by the EMF are crucial.

The activities and outcome

A large selection of EMFs will be tested for the ability to grow on the UPRMs generated by the project partners. Promising UPRM-EMF combinations will be explored further and compared by cultivation in liquid and solid-state fermentation systems under varying conditions (addition of supplements, changing pH, temperature, mixtures, etc). The most successful UPRM-EMF combinations for solid and liquid fermentation will be analysed to determine changes in levels of fungal biomass, profiles of amino acids, types of protein and fibres, and bio-availability. The biology underlying the solid and liquid conversion of UPRM by EMF will be determined in detail at the chemical (compound analysis) and the genetic level (transcriptomics). Next, solid and liquid cultivation will be optimized for respective optimal UPRM-EMF combinations with the best nutritional or palatability properties and used to estimate the potential for production of nutritious food ingredients from UPRM with EMF.