Abstract
Dietary mycoprotein (marketed as QuornTM) has many health benefits, including reductions in energy intake. The majority of studies evaluating mycoprotein focus on the protein content and very few consider the fibre content. Fibre consumption is also associated with decreased energy intake, which is partly attributed to short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) from fibre fermentation by colonic bacteria. To study the SCFA-producing capability of mycoprotein, in vitro batch fermentations were conducted, and SCFA production compared with that from extracted mycoprotein fibre, oligofructose (OF), rhamnose, and laminarin. Mycoprotein and mycoprotein fibre were both fermentable, resulting in a total SCFA production of 24.9 (1.7) and 61.2 (15.7) mmol/L, respectively. OF led to a significantly higher proportion of acetate compared to all other substrates tested (92.6 (2.8)%, p < 0.01). Rhamnose generated the highest proportion of propionate (45.3 (2.0)%, p < 0.01), although mycoprotein and mycoprotein fibre yielded a higher proportion of propionate compared with OF and laminarin. Butyrate proportion was the highest with laminarin (28.0 (10.0)% although mycoprotein fibre led to a significantly higher proportion than OF (p < 0.01). Mycoprotein is a valuable source of dietary protein, but its fibre content is also of interest. Further evaluation of the potential roles of the fibre content of mycoprotein is required.
Highlights
Mycoprotein, marketed as QuornTM, is an animal meat protein substitute product formed from the cultivation of the microfungus Fusarium venenatum
All of the tested substrates were fermentable, with whole mycoprotein resulting in the lowest total short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production (24.9 (1.7) mmol/L)
The fibre fraction of the mycoprotein resulted in the second highest total SCFA production at 61.2 (15.7) mmol/L, being surpassed only by laminarin
Summary
Mycoprotein, marketed as QuornTM , is an animal meat protein substitute product formed from the cultivation of the microfungus Fusarium venenatum. Mycoprotein is high in protein (11% wet weight), low in fat (3% wet weight), and contains 6% dietary fibre by wet weight [1]. Mycoprotein consumption has been associated with improvements in plasma cholesterol, glucose and insulin, and energy intake, compared with other protein sources [2,3,4]. Dietary fibre has been associated with reduced energy intake [5] and improved glucose metabolism. Fibre is fermented by colonic microbiota, resulting in the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), namely, acetate, propionate, and butyrate. These SCFAs activate the free fatty acid receptors (FFAR) 2 and 3, which are present on a number of different cell types, such as the colonic
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