Mushroom: An emerging source for next generation meat analogues

Jibanjyoti Panda¹Dr. Pinku Chandra Nath²Awdhesh Kumar Mishra³Sarvesh Rustagi⁴Debasis Nayak¹Renald Blundell⁵Yugal Kishore Mohanta^6*

• ¹Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation, Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University, Baripada, India
• ²Department of Biotechnology, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, India
• ³Department of Biotechnology, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan-si, Republic of Korea
• ⁴Department of Food Technology, Maya Devi Education Foundation, Dehradun, India
• ⁵L-Universita ta' Malta, Msida, Malta
• ⁶Department of Applied Biology, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, Baridua, India

In recent years, plant-based and alternative protein sources have garnered attention. Since they may resemble the texture, flavour, and nutritional profile of typical meat products, mushroombased meat substitutes have received attention. However, scaling up production, costeffectiveness, and nutritional requirements similar to animal-based meat products remain hurdles. Thus, understanding these dynamics is crucial to the global development and adoption of next-generation mushroom-based meat substitutes.This review examined and synthesized the current mushroom-based meat analogue research, concentrating on their physicochemical, nutritional, and qualitative properties. Also, evaluated worldwide market viability, consumer acceptance, and development and adoption difficulties and potential for next-generation mushroom-based meat substitutes.Due to their fleshiness, mushrooms can replace beef in sausages, nuggets, and patties. Rising vegetarianism and health concerns require meat substitutes. Due to their easy cultivation, excellent nutritional value, low fat and calorie content, and steady growth, mushrooms can meet this demand. However, there are still numerous chances and challenges to improve sensory features (texture, taste, and flavour), optimize processing, assess consumer satisfaction, and use different medicinal mushrooms as meat replacements. Thus, they are essential to the creation of nutritious, sustainable meat-based foods.