Fusarium venenatum

Fusarium venenatum is a filamentous microfungus with a high protein content, and one of its strains is used commercially to make the mycoprotein behind Quorn products. It matters because it gave rise to a meat alternative built on a single-cell organism.

History

It was discovered growing in soil in Buckinghamshire, in the United Kingdom, in 1967 by ICI, as part of a wider search at the time for food sources that could offset the protein shortfall expected from world population growth. It was first misidentified as Fusarium graminearum.

The A3/5 strain was developed commercially through a joint venture between ICI and Rank Hovis McDougall to produce a mycoprotein fit for human food. Because its hyphae resemble animal muscle fibres in length and width, the mycoprotein was marketed as a meat alternative under the Quorn name. In the United Kingdom, its sale as food was approved in 1985.

Culture

Quorn products are sold mainly within the vegetarian market, and the mycoprotein is also used as a substitute for cereal or fat in dairy products. Production runs as an aerobic process in tall culture towers fed with a glucose broth derived from maize starch. Most of these products contain egg white to hold their structure, so they are not suitable for a vegan diet. Biomass projects for this fungus now exist in other countries, including Argentina.