Mycelium as Food
- 22.09.2025
- English Articles
- Pia Bergmann
- Leonie Juhrich
- Marco Alexander Fraatz
- Martin Gand
Peer reviewed / Manuscript (overview) submitted: 25 November 2024; revision accepted: 3 March 2025
When will it be approved as a Novel Food?
Introduction
Mushrooms have been a part of the human diet for centuries. Their edibility or toxicity have been extensively tested by our species through trial and error. The best candidates for human consumption have been selected over time and are now cultivated in racks or on substrate blocks in conditioned climate chambers to ensure a continuous supply. A supply in significant quantities: According to the German Federal Statistical Office, approximately 78,000 tons of mushrooms were harvested in Germany last year [1]. Today, every well-stocked supermarket offers not only white and brown button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) but also king oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus eryngii), oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), or shiitake (Lentinula edodes).
Technological advancements now allow for the cultivation of not only the fruiting bodies but also the mycelium, the normally hidden “root network” of mushrooms, found in the soil or tree bark. If provided with an adequate nutrient medium, the mycelium can be multiplied under sterile conditions in liquid culture without forming fruiting bodies (• Figure 1). This offers several advantages in the context of climate change and the growing world population. ...
Abstract
Edible mushrooms have been consumed by humans for centuries, yet there is a regulatory distinction between the fruiting body and the mycelium. While the fruiting bodies of well-known species like champignons or oyster mushrooms are considered food, the associated mycelium is classified as a “novel food” and can only be brought to market after safety assessment and approval. This article explains why that is, what constitutes a novel food, and how the market is currently developing.
