Production of fungal biomass from oat flour for the use as a nutritious food source

Journal article, 2022

Fermentation can be a powerful tool for developing new sustainable foods with increased nutritional value and fermented microbial biomass derived from filamentous fungi is a promising example. This study investigates the nutritional profile of edible Aspergillus oryzae biomass produced under submerged fermentation (SmF) using oat flour as a substrate. The fermentation occurred in a 1m3 airlift bioreactor during 48 h at 35 °C and the nutritional profile of the produced fungal biomass in terms of amino acids, fatty acids, minerals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn), vitamins (E, D2), and dietary fiber was compared to oat flour as well as pure fungal biomass grown on semi-synthetic medium. The total amount of amino acids increased from 11% per dry weight (dw) in oat flour to 23.5% dw in oat fungal biomass with an improved relative ratio of essential amino acids (0.37 to 0.42). An increase in dietary fibers, minerals (Fe, Zn, Cu), vitamin E, as well as vitamin D2 were also obtained in the oat fungal biomass compared to oat flour. Moreover, the short chain omega-3 α-linolenic acid (ALA) and omega-6 linoleic acid (LA) values increased from 0.6 to 8.4 and 21.7 to 68.4 (mg/g dry weight sample), respectively, in oat fungal biomass. The results indicate that fungal biomass grown on oat flour could have a potential application in the food industry as a nutritious source for a wide variety of products.