Robin Gurney, director of Estonian-based organic mushrooms supplier Musheez, told NutraIngredients that as mushrooms gain momentum across Europe, some of the bigger companies are starting to take notice of the category and realize it\u2019s on the radar of the consumer. <\/p>\n
\u201cBig players are now asking about claims, behaviour in different food matrices, and they\u2019re looking to dig a bit deeper,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we\u2019re moving beyond food supplements into functional food and drink as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gap is being bridged now, and the big players are definitely paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that the movement is driven by the growing popularity of mushrooms in supplements and by novel food regulations that permit certain mushroom extracts\u2014particularly water-based extracts from species such as lion\u2019s mane, reishi, maitake, and shiitake\u2014to be used in foods for their functional benefits.<\/p>\n
Gurney added that there is a good amount of innovation happening across the show floor in drinkable formats, noting that after the functional coffee boom, carbonated drinks like kombuchas are likely the next to take centre stage. <\/p>\n
Overcoming functional mushroom formulation challenges<\/p>\n
With the innovation come formulation challenges, Gurney noted, namely taste and solubility.<\/p>\n
\u201cMushrooms aren\u2019t everyone\u2019s favourite flavour, and reishi \u2014 which has the largest body of useful research behind it \u2014 is extremely bitter,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you need to combine it with flavours that work well, like chocolate. For example, reishi chocolate works very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that pure reishi extracts can dissolve well, making them suitable for a wide range of applications, however lion\u2019s mane is less soluble and can become gelatinous, often requiring ingredients like maltodextrin to improve formulation.<\/p>\n
Additional to formulation challenges, there are some concerns around the quality of mushroom raw materials and the consistency of active compounds across different extracts and products.<\/p>\n
However, Gurney noted that this is being gradually addressed through an \u2018evolving knowledge\u2019 of mushroom bioactives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the supplement sector, people are increasingly focused on functionality \u2014 asking whether the product contains the compounds of interest, whether lion\u2019s mane contains hericenones, whether the correct fungal part is being used, and so on,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat means using techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid or gas chromatography to verify every batch.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no longer just about polysaccharides and beta-glucans \u2014 we\u2019ve moved beyond that. Brands want proof that these active compounds are actually present.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that functional food manufacturers show slightly different priorities as they are working within the constraints of mainstream food and beverage formulation and consumer expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies are more focused on whether the species is correctly identified, whether it complies with novel food regulations, and whether the taste, solubility, particle size and oil-holding capacity are suitable for the application,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Trending health areas for mushrooms<\/p>\n
As Gurney noted, mind health areas continue to lead the charge in mushroom growth, particularly around sleep improvement and stress management. Cognition remains a major focus too, but is now attracting a slightly younger audience.<\/p>\n
Looking to the future, Gurney hopes that the next area of growth for mushrooms could be in sports nutrition applications.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think lion\u2019s mane applications related to nerve growth factor (NGF) could eventually be explored more in muscle repair \u2014 things like muscle tears and recovery in athletes,\u201d he said. \u201cThat area has been under-investigated, and there\u2019s definitely room to explore lion\u2019s mane for nerve recovery throughout the body, not just in the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond category interest, Gurney expects that new species will begin to take the timelines. <\/p>\n
\u201cMaitake is probably next, alongside deeper exploration of shiitake and even oyster mushrooms,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a growing body of research there, so eventually the market won\u2019t just focus on chaga, reishi, lion\u2019s mane and cordyceps \u2014 we\u2019ll also see other mushrooms becoming more prominent in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robin Gurney, director of Estonian-based organic mushrooms supplier Musheez, told NutraIngredients that as mushrooms gain momentum across Europe,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,85,46,543],"class_list":["post-462486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}