Fungal Production of Food Supplements

Today food and various food supplements of fungal origin are consumed all over the world in vast quantities, and its commercial production is part of a rapidly growing industry. Fungi are of excellent value nutritionally and of great importance whether as a direct food source, as a medicine or as a processed food. Edible mushrooms are easily cultivable and are excellent sources of protein, have low-fat content and are free of cholesterol. They are consumed either in fresh or processed form. To combat the problem of food shortage, single cell proteins were produced using yeast cells which are protein extracts with high amino acid content potentially favourable for use in human nutrition. Similarly, mycoprotein marketed as Quorn™ is now available in supermarkets, as a high-protein, low-fat, cholesterol-free ‘meat alternative’. In this book chapter various commercial applications of fungi have been discussed for the production of nutritionally important food products and food supplements.