Development of innovative food raw materials based on Maillard reaction by functional transformation of traditional and exotic mushrooms for food and medicinal purposes.
In January 2021, a consortium of Magyar Gomba Kertész Kft. And the University of Debrecen launched its research tender with the identification number 2020-1.1.2-PIACI-KFI-2020-00100. The 4-year project undertakes the development of functional foods and food ingredients by processing traditional mushrooms and exotic mushrooms. The project will develop functional mushroom-based food ingredients and products that, in addition to their outstanding antioxidant content, can also be functional products that have been transformed in their taste and are of high culinary value.
The researchers of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food Science and Environmental Management of the University of Debrecen develop the appropriate content and organoleptic characteristics of the final products by long-term heat treatment of mushroom fruiting bodies at low temperature (50-90 ° C) under controlled humidity, followed by controlled drying. The products of the Maillard reaction can play a role not only as pleasant flavors but also as having significant biological activity.
Useful and harmful components are also formed in the reaction, so the study of the processes and the examination of the resulting materials are also part of the research. During the gentle heat treatment, liquid also leaves the mushroom. It is a liquid rich in active ingredients, flavor components, polysaccharides, amino acids and polypeptides, and Maillard reaction products, resulting in special products as both a flavor and a therapeutic agent.
In the case of the mushrooms and exotic mushrooms (shitake, devil’s chariot oyster mushroom, late oyster mushroom) examined in the project, the cultivation of Magyar Gomba Kertész Kft tries to apply optimal cultivation technology in order to achieve maximum polysaccharide, protein and vitamin content. The mushroom fruiting bodies thus produced can be an optimal raw material for the production of functional mushroom-based food raw materials and products. It is important that the sensory evaluation of the heat-treated mushroom and the functional products formed is also positive, as in the future it can be an independent (even completely different from the mushroom) food raw material, or it is also possible to produce a special spice.
The food raw material produced in the research and development process provides an excellent opportunity to develop new, high-protein, unique taste functional products that can not only serve vegetarian and vegan nutrition but also provide alternative diets to meet today’s changing tastes.
The amount of the contracted support: HUF 371,487,235
Aid intensity: 62,96%
Start of the project: 01.01.2021.
Intended completion date of the project: 31.12.2024.
Date of actual completion: 31.12.2024.
Consortium leader: MAGYAR GOMBA KERTÉSZ KFT.
Consortium partner: University of Debrecen
University of Debrecen Project Communication
