Preparation of culinary-medicinal king oyster mushroom Pleurotus eryngii-fermented products with high ergothioneine content and their taste quality

Ergothioneine Production by Submerged Fermentation of a Medicinal Mushroom Panus conchatus

Ergothioneine is a natural and safe antioxidant that plays an important role in anti-aging and the prevention of various diseases. This study aimed to report on a kind of medicinal mushroom of Panus conchatus with great potential for the bioproduction of ergothioneine. The effect of different nutritional and environmental conditions on the growth of Panus conchatus and ergothioneine production were investigated. Molasses and soy peptone were found to promote cell growth of Panus conchatus and enhance ergothioneine accumulation. Adding precursors of histidine, methionine and cysteine could increase ergothioneine production and the highest ergothioneine concentration of 148.79 mg/L was obtained. Finally, the extraction and purification processes were also established to obtain the crude ergothioneine extract for further antioxidant property evaluation. The ergothioneine from Panus conchatus showed high antioxidant activity with good stability in a lower pH environment. This study provided a new strain and process for the bioproduction of ergothioneine.

Recent insights in flavor-enhancers: Definition, mechanism of action, taste-enhancing ingredients, analytical techniques and the potential of utilization

The consumers' demand for clean-label food products, lead to the replacement of conventional additives and redesign of the production methods in order to adopt green processes. Many researchers have focused on the identification and isolation of naturally occurring taste and flavor enhancers. The term "taste enhancer" and "flavor enhancer" refer to umami and kokumi components, respectively, and their utilization requires the study of their mechanism of action and the identification of their natural sources. Plants, fungi and dairy products can provide high amounts of naturally occurring taste and flavor enhancers. Thermal or enzymatic treatments of the raw materials intensify taste and flavor properties. Their utilization as taste and flavor enhancers relies on their identification and isolation. All the above-mentioned issues are discussed in this review, from the scope of listing the newest trends and up-to-date technological developments. Additionally, the appropriate sensory analysis protocols of the naturally occurring taste-active components are presented. Moreover, future trends in using such ingredients by the food industry can motivate researchers to study new means for clean-label food production and provide further knowledge to the food industry, in order to respond to consumers' demands.

The current status of biotechnological production and the application of a novel antioxidant ergothioneine

Ergothioneine is a sulfur-containing histidine derivative, that possessesexcellent antioxidant activity and has been used in the food and cosmetics industries. It plays a significant role in anti-aging and the prevention of various diseases. This review will briefly introduce the functions and applications of ergothioneine, elaborate the biosynthetic pathways of ergothioneine and describe several strategies to increase the production of ergothioneine. Then the efficient extraction and detection methods of ergothioneine will be presented. Finally, several proposals are put forward to increase the yield of ergothioneine, and the development prospects of ergothioneine will be discussed.

The Quality Improvement of Solid-State Fermentation with Cordyceps militaris by UVB Irradiation

Cordyceps militaris, a medicinal and edible mushroom, was used to ferment buckwheat and embryo rice by solid-state fermentation (SSF). Our aim was to investigate the effect of ultraviolet B (UVB) light irradiation on the content of vitamin D2 and biologically effective components, and antioxidant properties of buckwheat and embryo rice in SSF with C. militaris. Irradiated samples of buckwheat and embryo rice fermented by C. militaris had significantly increased vitamin D2 content, from 0-0.3 to 1.18-16.79 μg/g, while the increase in fresh embryo rice fermented by C. militaris was up to 16.79 μg/g. The content of adenosine, cordycepin and polysaccharide in irradiated dry samples fermented by C. militaris was 0.08 to 11.15 mg/g, higher than that of the irradiated fresh samples fermented by C. militaris (0.07-8.40 mg/g). Samples fermented by C. militaris had lower EC50 values and higher content of antioxidants than did unfermented samples. When the solid-state fermented sample was irradiated with UVB light, the content of biologically effective and antioxidant components and antioxidant property of sample decreased. However, it still contained enough of these biologically effective and antioxidant components.