Scientists Use Fungus to Make Vegan Egg Whites
The fungus-produced ovalbumin reduces land use requirements by almost 90% and greenhouse gases by 31 - 55 percent compared to the production of its chicken-based counterpart.
Image: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
As forests are razed or burnt to the ground to make space for the animal agriculture industry, and the Earth continues to struggle under the weight of the ever-worsening climate crisis, it is becoming more and more apparent that we desperately need a global shift away from our reliance on animal-based products. This has led scientists to search for solutions - and it may be of little surprise to people that some of these are being found in the natural world itself.
One recent discovery made by scientists is the ability to create egg whites out of fungi using precision fermentation. The animal-free egg, developed by researchers in Finland, requires 90 percent less land and creates 55 percent fewer greenhouse gases than chicken eggs. It also removes the need for an industry rife with animal cruelty, which intensively farms more than seven billion chickens for their eggs every year.
The Future Sustainable Food Systems research group at the University of Helsinki teamed up with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to produce ovalbumin in powder form, the primary protein in egg white, using the fungi species, Trichoderma reesei. According to food tech scientists, the fungus-produced ovalbumin is suitable for large-scale industrial production.
“VTT has succeeded in producing ovalbumin with the help of the filamentous ascomycete fungus Trichoderma reesei,” Dr. Emilia Nordlund of the VTT Technical Research Centre said in a statement. “The gene carrying the blueprints for ovalbumin is inserted by modern biotechnological tools into the fungus which then produces and secretes the same protein that chickens produce. The ovalbumin protein is then separated from the cells, concentrated, and dried to create a final functional product.”
The technology would also remove the risk of salmonella and exposure to antibiotics, while drastically cutting down the estimated 1.6 million tons of egg protein consumed annually, say the researchers.
As plant-forward eating continues to grow in popularity for ethical, environmental, and health reasons, a growing number of companies are working to produce alternatives to chicken eggs. Last October, JUST Egg, which is an egg replacement available in liquid and folded form, received regulatory approval to enter the $10.7 billion European egg market. The company has dominated the U.S. market since its 2019 launch, selling the equivalent of nearly 200 million chicken eggs. Other competitors in the vegan egg space include Zero Egg and Nestle.
Fantastic Fungi
Elsewhere, innovative fashion brands and designers are diving into the fascinating world of fungi too, as mushroom leather is praised as a more ethical and sustainable material to its animal counterpart.
Mushroom leather is made from mycelium, a material that can be grown from fungi in weeks and has the texture and functionality of soft, supple animal leather. The groundbreaking material can be grown to fit the size and shape desired by the designer, which in turn removes the fabric waste that usually ends up on the cutting room floor. Designed to be low impact, mushroom leather emits far fewer greenhouse gases and uses less water and resources than animal leather, leading experts to believe that it can help designers in their quest to become more planet-friendly.
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