Providing food and in particular proteins is a major challenge for increasing population and also climate and greenhouse gas emissions. These fungi are already used in Asian dishes as e.g. Indonesian tempeh or Japanese koji grown on e.g. soybeans.

The researchers have long experience in working with fungi. The project is defined to make a strong network between Sweden and Indonesia to further develop production of edible filamentous fungi from food grade residuals, and to produce fungal-based meat resembles from fungi. Relevant companies will also be involved to share their expertise and resources in order to achieve this goal.

This collaborative project is expected to contribute to reduce the stunting as one major nutrition problem in Indonesia by providing a low-cost protein alternative. The scientific goals include to develop a robust submerged liquid fermentation technology to produce mycoprotein from food grade by-products, to improve the texture of the mycoprotein to mimic meat fibers, and to asses the nutritional values and safety of the mycoprotein as meat alternatives. The scientific results will be published in open access international journals.

Kick off meeting in Yogyakarta  (from left to right): Steven Wainaina, Claes Niklasson (Chalmers), Ria Millati (Gadjah Mada University), Teguh Ariyanto (Gadjah Mada University), Udin Hansanudin (Lampung University), Rachma Wikandari (Gadjah Mada University) och Mohammad Taherzadeh. Photo: Private