Use of the Versatility of Fungal Metabolism to Meet Modern Demands for Healthy Aging, Functional Foods, and Sustainability

Abstract

Aging-associated, non-transmissible chronic diseases (NTCD) such as cancer, dyslipidemia, and neurodegenerative disorders have been challenged through several strategies including the consumption of healthy foods and the development of new drugs for existing diseases. Consumer health consciousness is guiding market trends toward the development of additives and nutraceutical products of natural origin. Fungi produce several metabolites with bioactivity against NTCD as well as pigments, dyes, antioxidants, polysaccharides, and enzymes that can be explored as substitutes for synthetic food additives. Research in this area has increased the yields of metabolites for industrial applications through improving fermentation conditions, application of metabolic engineering techniques, and fungal genetic manipulation. Several modern hyphenated techniques have impressively increased the rate of research in this area, enabling the analysis of a large number of species and fermentative conditions. This review thus focuses on summarizing the nutritional, pharmacological, and economic importance of fungi and their metabolites resulting from applications in the aforementioned areas, examples of modern techniques for optimizing the production of fungi and their metabolites, and methodologies for the identification and analysis of these compounds.

Single Cell Protein: A Potential Substitute in Human and Animal Nutrition

“…A series of specific reactions characterize fungal metabolism. The catabolic processes consist in the biosynthesis of a large number of compounds, usually divided into primary and secondary metabolites [87]. The primary fungal metabolites, such as alcohols, organic acids (citric and lactic acid) and amino acids (L-glutamate, L-lysine) are required for growth and reproduction.…”

Ceriporia lacerata Mycelium Culture Medium as a Novel Anti-Aging Microbial Material for Cosmeceutical Application

“…Among them, the metabolites derived from fungi contain biologically active ingredients of considerable commercial value, including oligosaccharides, exopolysaccharides (EPS), enzymes, peptides, vitamins, and biosurfactants. These metabolites are widely used as main raw materials for pharmaceuticals, functional foods, and cosmetic products [5][6][7][8][9]. Packed with thousands of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, they have been widely used to fight aging by improving the skin's natural defenses, restoring skin elasticity, increasing moisture content, promoting collagen synthesis, and exhibiting skin-whitening effects [4,5].…”

Bioactivity assessment of exopolysaccharides produced by Pleurotus pulmonarius in submerged culture with different agro-waste residues

“…Supplementation of agrowastes into cultivating media of fungi during fermentation processes is a mechanism to produce useful bioavailable metabolites for medicinal purposes. Bioproduction of multiple secondary metabolites by higher fungi have increased for industrial applications through optima fermentation conditions, application of metabolic engineering techniques, and fungal genetic manipulation ( Takahashi et al., 2020 ). Solid state fermentation and submerged cultivation of Basidiomycota are much faster biotechnological processing as a promising tool for industrial production of exopolysaccharides.…”