Neurospora crassa

    Technical Data

    Type of microorganism Fungus
    Microorganism name Neurospora crassa
    Temperature range 28.5-30°C (Liu et al., 2016)
    pH range pH 5.4-6 (Liu et al., 2016)
    Carbon and nitrogen source Sucrose, NH4NO3 (The Better Meat Co., 2022)
    Growth  rate (µ) NA
    Companies (product)
    Wild-type or GMO Wild-type
    Feedstock case studies (suitable substrates) Potato waste prodcuts, beet pulp, malted barley (The Better Meat Co., 2022)
    % SCP (w/w percentage of protein in dried biomass) 45% (Bartholomai et al., 2022)
    cell  biomass dry weight (CDW) = biomass yield? (g/L or g/g?) (weight of biomass/total weight or volume)  Proprietary info of The Better Meat Co. And Meati Foods
    Protein content in final product 15% (w/w) (Bartholomai et al., 2022)
    Protein titer (g/L or g/g?) grams of protein / total weight or volume NA
    Productivity (g/Lh) Proprietary info of The Better Meat Co. And Meati Foods
    Protein yield on C-source (% w/w) Proprietary info of The Better Meat Co. And Meati Foods
    Scale Pilot scale with plans of going industrial (now 9000 L) (Watson, 2024)
    Downstream purification processing complexity   Centrigugation step to isolate. Heat treatment is required to reduce RNA content. Overall minimal downstream processing. (The Better Meat Co., 2022)
    Nucleic acid content Not specifially stated, but likely around 10% as most fungi
    Techno-functional and/or nutritional properties (e.g. meat-like texture, amino acid profile, digestibility) High protein content (all amino acids present), rich in fiber, low in saturated fats, no cholesterol, meat-like texture, high digestibility (Bartholomai et al., 2022)
    Target application (Food, feed, other) Used in food as a meat alternative. Also tested in feed.
    Advantages Does not produce toxins, has low allergenic potential. It is a nutritionally dense food. (Bartholomai et al., 2022)
    Challenges (Key limitations, risk factors) Only approved in two countires (US and Singapore)
    Regulatory status in Europe Not allowed for food and feed in Europe. No Novel Food application filed yet.
    Regulatory status in other parts of the world
    Extra/remark Not a lot of info found on submerged fermentation. As far as I could find, only done by Meati and The Better Meat Co. Info on temperature and pH range is for solid state fermentation. N. crassa is also often used in combination with other organisms (for example Lactobacillus plantarum) (Liu et at., 2016)
    Publications/references