Mycelium Biopolymer Panels for Custom Meat-Like Food Matrices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing mycological biopolymers fail to create customizable, mass-produced, non-animal matrices suitable for food and biomedical applications that mimic animal-derived products in terms of texture, flavor, and nutritional profile.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the growth of fungal mycelium in a controlled environment to produce a mycelium biopolymer, followed by infusion with plant-derived additives to mimic animal-derived meat products, and optionally incorporating bovine myocytes or blocking compounds for enhanced shelf-life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If fungal mycelium is grown in a sealed environment with high CO2 and elevated temperature to produce biopolymer, then the mycelium grows into the void space filling the container, but full differentiation into mushroom occurs which is undesirable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by precisely controlling environmental conditions (CO2 concentration at 5-7%, temperature at 29-35°C) to maintain mycelium in an undifferentiated state while achieving high productivity. This resolves the contradiction by adjusting physical parameters to favor rapid mycelium growth without triggering mushroom differentiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates an inert-like controlled atmosphere with elevated CO2 and specific temperature conditions that suppress mushroom differentiation while allowing mycelium to thrive. This controlled environment acts as a selective pressure that maintains the desired undifferentiated state.
2Adaptability or versatility
If mycological biopolymer is produced using conventional methods, then the product is made, but it lacks customization and ability to mimic animal-derived products in texture, flavor, and nutritional profile
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by infusing the mycelium biopolymer with plant-derived proteins, fats, micronutrients, and flavoring ingredients during or after the growth phase. This preliminary incorporation of additives enables customization of texture, flavor, and nutritional profile before the final product is formed, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and ease of manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates composite materials by combining mycelium biopolymer with plant-derived proteins, fats, and other ingredients to mimic animal-derived meat products. This composite approach enables customization of functional properties while maintaining a relatively simple production process based on existing mycelium cultivation techniques.
3Manufacturing precision
If the mycelium panel is infused with plant-derived additives to mimic meat products, then the nutritional profile and flavor are improved, but the production process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the porous structure of the mycelium biopolymer panel to enable simple infusion with plant-derived additives. The natural porosity of mycelium allows for easy absorption and distribution of proteins, fats, and flavoring ingredients without requiring complex infusion equipment or processes, thus achieving high manufacturing precision with minimal device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the production of customizable, mass-produced, non-animal matrices with tailored texture, flavor, and nutritional profiles, suitable for food and biomedical applications, while maintaining desired characteristics like shelf-life.
Implementation Method 1
The environmental conditions for producing the mycological biopolymer product, i.e. a high carbon dioxide (CO2) content i.e. from 5% to 7% by volume and an elevated temperature i.e. from 29°C to 35°C (85°F. to 95°F.) prevent full differentiation of the fungus into a mushroom.
Implementation Method 2
a self-supporting composite material may be made of a substrate of discrete particles and a network of interconnected mycelia cells extending through and around the discrete particles and bonding the discrete particles together
Implementation Method 3
The biopolymer product grows into the void space of the tool, filling the space with an undifferentiated mycelium chitin-polymer, which is subsequently extracted from the substrate and dried.
Implementation Method 4
The biopolymer product grows into the void space of the tool, filling the space with an undifferentiated mycelium chitin-polymer, which is subsequently extracted from the substrate and dried.
Data Source
AI summary
A panel of mycological polymer consisting entirely of fungal mycelium as described in US Patent Application 16/190,585 is post-processed to impart desired characteristics thereto, such as, texture, flavor and nutritional profile for use as a foodstuff or a tissue scaffold. Alternatively, the growth conditions of the growth media may be tailored to obtain a desired density, morphology, and/or composition of the undifferentiated fungal material with or without the use of post-processes.