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Mycelial Proteins: A Little Like Mae West

In a world where the environmental footprint of foods is important, mycelial proteins gain market acceptance.

SL Staff B

• 3 min read
Close shot of a translucent mushroom from a low angle that shows its gills.
Is that a juicy steak on your plate ... or is it actually a slab of 'shroom roots? (Photo: SL Staff)

Fall is a glorious time for mushroom hunters on the warm, wet, west coast of North America. After only a few damp autumn days, fungus is everywhere: colourful, pale, bland, flavourful, wild and baroque...you can find just about anything you want in the rainforest restaurant. Furtive fungal foragers are everywhere, stealthily slipping into the woods when nobody is looking, in an effort to protect some secret patch of lobster mushrooms.

But that is just the above-ground view. What we can see—mushrooms and their cousins—are the fruiting bodies of certain types of fungi, many of which exist below ground, just like tree roots.

While we commonly eat the safe varieties of these above-ground fungal fruiting bodies, underground fungi—called "mycelia"—are edible too.

Mycelia have recently attracted a lot of scientific and commercial interest because of their remarkable nutritional content (mycelia contain all nine essential amino acids, lots of fibre, and loads of protein, but little or no harmful fats) and the ease with which they can be manipulated into shapes, textures, and tastes that are (or at least can be) remarkably meat-like.1

Mycelial meats are not typically made from foraged fungus, though, but instead are grown in specialized fermentation vessels.

Most of the fungi used do not have visible fruiting bodies, but instead grow mostly or completely below ground.

This will no doubt disappoint the forest foragers.

But the benefits are substantial. In addition to its nutritional goodness, mycelial protein can be grown in ways that can be easy on the environment, with carbon footprints less than 1% that of beef. Mycelial protein uses much less land and water and could eventually be cheaper to produce.2 It can be grown almost anywhere, in part because it can use waste from agriculture or manufactured food products (tofu, for example) as a growth medium and source of nutrition.3

This should send you rushing to a search engine. Search for "mycelial meat."

You'll be surprised by the mouth-watering pictures of very meat-like products from more than a dozen food manufacturers, but even more so by the reviews, which describe mycelial meat as anything from slightly repellent (rubbery) to delicious (excellent flavour and texture, very meat-like). Search for "mycelial meat reviews."

In 2015, nobody had heard much about mycelial meats. But in 2025, the global market for mycelial protein will exceed 1 billion dollars, and is likely to grow very rapidly.4, 5

We have taste-tested a few of these mycelial meats, and hope to try many more, all in the service, of course, of research on your behalf. The online reviews are pretty accurate. Mycelial meats are like Mae West: when they are good, they are very good; but when they are bad, they are horrid.

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Safety warning: We shouldn't have to say this, but we're going to say it anyway. Just as not all mushrooms are not safe to eat, not all fungal mycelia are safe, either. Do not attempt to consume foraged mycelia. Fungus used to make mycelial proteins does not usually have an above-ground body, and the below-ground varieties are (to us anyway) painfully difficult to identify.

Also, a few people are allergic to the spores and extracts of mycelia.6 These allergies can induce vomiting and diarrhea. As you might expect, since they are rare, these allergies can be hard to diagnose.

As you might guess, we very strongly recommend that you only eat commercially-prepared mycelia.
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  1. QYResearch. Global Mycelium Protein Market Research Report 2025. July 5, 2021. https://www.qyresearch.com/reports/4464986/mycelium-protein
  2. Souza Filho, Pedro F., Dan Andersson, Jorge A. Ferreira, and Mohammad J. Taherzadeh. “Mycoprotein: Environmental Impact and Health Aspects.” World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology 35, no. 10 (2019): 147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-019-2723-9.
  3. Holt, Roberta R., John P. Jr Munafo, Julie Salmen, Carl L. Keen, Behroze S. Mistry, Justin M. Whiteley, and Harold H. Schmitz. “Mycelium: A Nutrient-Dense Food To Help Address World Hunger, Promote Health, and Support a Regenerative Food System.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 72, no. 5 (February 7, 2024): 2697–2707. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03307.
  4. Global Market Insights. Mycelium Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Forecasts 2034. February 21, 2025. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/mycelium-market
  5. Towards FNB. "Mycelium Market Size, Share, Demand & Production Forecast 2034." April 21, 2025. https://www.towardsfnb.com/insights/mycelium-market
  6. Pashley, Catherine H., Andrew J. Fairs, and Andrew J. Wardlaw. "Comparison of the Allergenic Potency of Spores and Mycelium of Cladosporium Species." Allergologia et Immunopathologia 50, no. 2 (2022): 1–9. https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-allergologia-et-immunopathologia-105-articulo-comparison-allergenic-potency-spores-mycelium-1307569

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