Mushroom-derived ingredients are moving to the forefront of functional ingredients in both senses, as sources of healthful compounds and as flavor and texture modifiers. Until about a decade ago, the primary focus on mushrooms was culinary, as a macro-ingredient in savory foods.

“Mushrooms began trending initially because of umami,” notes Pam Smith, Culinary Innovator and Leader of Food Service Outreach for the Mushroom Council. “They're the ultimate flavor lifter and chefs have long looked to them as what they could do in their arsenal of kind of the flavor toolbox.”

Smith, who also is the co-chair of the Culinary Institute of America’s “Healthy Menus R &D Collaborative” and founding principal of Shaping America's Plate points out that “mushrooms fit into any global cuisine, are versatile, and possess different textural capabilities.”

Smith cites mushrooms as the original go-to ingredient of plant-based or plant -forward cuisine, “long before the notion of meat analogs or some of the meat mimics that have come into play,” pointing to the classic Portobello burger as an example. “Gradually, product developers began to tune into the benefits of mushrooms to enhance umami and kokumi flavors and then textures, especially in items such as meat substitutes.”

Health bump

Smith also highlights the wealth of health benefits mushrooms confer. “The bevy of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that we find in mushrooms…are something special,” she explains. “Some of those nutrients are now being found to impact the body, supporting the immune system.” This became especially clear during the Covid years when consumers became overwhelmingly concerned with immune health. One of the specific benefits related directly to the Covid virus: Mushrooms are the only non-animal source of abundant vitamin D, a nutrient that was discovered to help protect against the disease.

Mushrooms and mushroom-derived ingredients have been studied for centuries and are an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Modern science is finding strong backing for many of the qualities attributed to fungi. Meanwhile, ingredient technologists also have been uncovering compounds from mushrooms, especially in the mycelia (root structure) that mask bitterness or off flavor notes (especially from ingredients such as stevia) and so indirectly enhance sweet flavors.

More recently, ingredient scientists discovered a sweetener derived from mushroom mycelia. In her interview with Prepared Foods’ Ms. Smith shares more details about the incredible versatility and benefits of mushrooms and mushroom ingredients to food processors and consumers alike.