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Mycoprotein (Quorn)

Mycoprotein is the grown mass of one fungus, Fusarium venenatum, raised on glucose, ammonia and salts in huge fermenters that run without stopping for about a month. It is a boundary entry in the atlas, since the fungus itself is the food, and nothing is soured or turned into alcohol. The broth is heated to cut its RNA, then the fungus is spun into a dough, bound, set and frozen.

Fully documentedOther28 days – 42 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedIndustrial continuous process with no recipe amounts published. Two 150,000 L fermenters give about 300 kg of biomass an hour (Wiebe 2002).
Fusarium venenatum A3/5The single fungal strain, chosen in the late 1960s[wiebe2002]
GlucoseFed continuously with the salts and ammonia[derbyshire2023]
AmmoniaThe nitrogen source, fed in with the air[derbyshire2023]
Mineral salts, biotin and cholineSmall amounts of biotin and choline help growth[derbyshire2023]
Egg albuminBinds the fungal paste into products[wiebe2002]
StarterA single fungal strain, Fusarium venenatum A3/5, grown as a pure culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 42 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countFusarium venenatum

What changes: Fungal threads grow in a tall fermenter fed with sugar, ammonia and air

Step 1 of 4
Grow the fungus continuously in the fermenter
Time
28–42 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Fusarium venenatum

No production temperature is published in the sources read; 28 °C appears only for lab plates. Output: broth of fungal threads.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

fungal threads (hyphae) grow; branched mutants slowly take over and end the run

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Mycoprotein is the grown mass of one fungus, Fusarium venenatum, raised on glucose, ammonia and salts in huge fermenters that run without stopping for about a month. It is a boundary entry in the atlas, since the fungus itself is the food, and nothing is soured or turned into alcohol. The broth is heated to cut its RNA, then the fungus is spun into a dough, bound, set and frozen. Made in 4 steps over 28 days – 42 days. The longest step, grow the fungus continuously in the fermenter, takes 28–42 days (Wiebe M.G. 2002). Fusarium venenatum A3/5 does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step28–42 daysReported[wiebe2002][derbyshire2023][connell2025]Grow the fungus continuously in the fermenter
Temperatureat least 68 °CReported[park2026]Heat the broth to cut the RNA

What makes this one different

Unlike tempeh or koji, the mould is not used to change another food. The fungus is grown alone in liquid and the fungus itself is eaten.

Related ferments

Safety

A 2026 review of single-cell proteins says the nucleic acids in microbial biomass add to uric acid in the body, which can raise the risk of gout and kidney stones, so cutting them or limiting intake is generally required for food use. In this process the heat step takes RNA from about 10 % to under 2 % of dry weight. Some people become sensitised and develop an allergy to mycoprotein. A 2019 symposium review, supported by Quorn's maker Marlow Foods, counts 5 case reports since 2002 and calls allergy rare, citing a 2015 systematic review and the company's own complaint data (about 1 possible allergic reaction per 9 million packages). It also says Quorn foods can hold a small amount of egg albumin as a binder, which matters for egg allergy, and that a growing share is sold without egg.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Chosen for development in the late 1960s. After 12 years of testing, the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food approved it for sale as food in 1984 (Wiebe 2002). A 2019 symposium review gives 1983, after a 10-year evaluation, and says the first Quorn retail product, a savoury pie, followed two years later (Finnigan 2019).

  1. [wiebe2002] Wiebe M.G. 2002, Myco-protein from Fusarium venenatum, a well-established product for human consumption, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 58:421–427 (abstract via Europe PMC)paper
  2. [finnigan2019] Finnigan T.J.A., Wall B.T., Wilde P.J., Stephens F.B., Taylor S.L., Freedman M.R. 2019, Mycoprotein, the future of nutritious nonmeat protein, a symposium review, Current Developments in Nutrition 3(6):nzz021paper
  3. [derbyshire2023] Derbyshire E.J., Theobald H. et al. 2023, Food for our future, the nutritional science behind the sustainable fungal protein mycoprotein, a symposium review, Journal of Nutritional Sciencepaper
  4. [connell2025] Connell J. et al. 2025, Mutation of the LRG1 Rho-GAP gene is responsible for the hyper branching C-variant phenotype in the Quorn mycoprotein fungus Fusarium venenatum A3/5, Fungal Biology and Biotechnologypaper
  5. [park2026] Park S., Kim T., Lee S., Kim P. 2026, Current single-cell proteins as ingredients, functions, challenges and regulatory frameworks, Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 36:e2606024paper