Mycorena

Sometimes it’s best to let the power of nature do its thing. Since so much of our world is digital now, even frighteningly being outsourced to robots, we forget that plants and animals don’t give a shit about the future of AI. They just live and exist as themselves. And that is miraculous.

Mycorena is a company that is using the extraordinary power of fungi to make what is essentially two products at the moment; Promyc® and Mycolein.

Promyc® is what Mycorena calls “quite a boring ingredient”, but its ability is anything but dull. It is, as described, a “vegan mycoprotein ingredient” produced in the Mycorena fungi lab. It is a complete protein derived from filamentous fungi, which in turn grow mycelium. When you think of how a mushroom looks above ground, the part we see is the mushroom cap, while the mycelium comprise the large fibrous body growing underground. Promyc® looks, I will say at the onset, not super great? It’s kind of like if crumbled tofu and cooked ground chicken had a visual baby. BUT, that’s not the point. The point is this is a vegan product with high nutritional value, made from fermenting fungi. It can take on the vastest array of flavor profiles without compromise, is a scalable process to creation, and can be made anywhere in the world.

Mycolein™ is, as Mycorena calls it, “a low-fat fat”. It is a fungi-stabilized fat ingredient that is a substitute for animal fat. It is healthier, cleaner, and even marbles like typical animal fat would do. Mycolein™ is seen as a flavor enhancer and is made using Mycorena’s proprietary emulsion technology.

So, getting back to the first part of this post. Yes, Mycorena is a company. Yes, they have a Fungi Lab. But instead of thinking how we can manipulate ingredients that aren’t supposed to be manipulated, they understand the power of harnessing an organism to simply do what it’s supposed to do, be itself.

By the way, if you’re curious about the environmental impact of making Promyc® and Mycolein™, check out their FAQ. It’s good news.