The present invention relates to the use of a defoaming agent for preventing pellet morphology of thermophilic fungi when grown at acidic pH in chemically defined media. The invention pertains to processes for producing a fermentation product, wherein the thermophilic fungus, e.g. a Rhizomucor species, is grown in submerged culture at acidic pH in a chemically defined medium and wherein the strain is cultured in the presence of a defoaming agent. The defoaming agent can be a vegetable oil such as olive or sun flower oil and the fermentation product can be single cell protein in the form of biomass of the thermophilic fungus for use as a dietary source of protein.

The present invention relates to a process for producing single cell protein, wherein a thermophilic fungus is grown a fermentable carbon-rich feedstock at a high temperature and at an acidic pH. This allows for a cost effective fermentation process that can to be run under non-sterile conditions and without additional cooling requirements. The process can be used to convert by-products or waste from agriculture or food production, or organic fractions of municipal solid waste into valuable single cell protein that can be applied as dietary source of protein or protein supplement in human food or animal feed.

Aquafeed, animal feed, and other food products, as well as nutritional and pharmaceutical compounds, chemicals and biomaterials are important commodities that can be produced at commercial scale by fermentation of microorganisms. The present invention provides a method for producing these valuable multi-carbon compounds from simple gas feedstocks, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen, by cultivating a consortium of microbial cells specially selected for this purpose in an aqueous culture medium. In addition to exploiting inexpensive feedstocks, such as waste industrial gas for this cultivation, the platform described herein also provides the advantage of removing carbon dioxide and other waste gases from industrial emissions, which would otherwise contribute to global climate change. Furthermore, the cultivation of a microbial consortium can provide highly nutritious components to a feed blend that might not be available from a monoculture.

There is described a continuous process for producing and isolating mycoprotein. The process may comprise the steps of: providing a fermentation media suitable for producing mycoprotein; introducing the fermentation media to a first fermentation vessel; fermenting the fermentation media to obtain a mixture comprising mycoprotein and partially spent fermentation media; isolating at least part of the partially spent fermentation media from the mixture comprising mycoprotein and partially spent fermentation media; and reintroducing at least a portion of the isolated partially spent fermentation media into the first fermentation vessel. Also described is mycoprotein obtained from the process.

A method of dehydrating and rehydrating mycelium includes growing fungal cells in a growth media such that the fungal cells produce a mycelium mass having a protein content of greater than 40 wt % of a dry mass of the mycelium mass. The method includes separating the mycelium mass from the growth media, compacting the mycelium mass, and dehydrating the compacted mycelium mass to produce a dehydrated mycelium mass having a moisture content in a range of 5 wt % to 60 wt % and a first hardness in a range of 0.007 kgf/mm.sup.2 to 0.018 kgf/mm.sup.2. The method includes rehydrating the dehydrated mycelium mass to form a rehydrated mycelium mass having a moisture content of greater than 60 wt % and a second hardness in a range of 0.00035 kgf/mm.sup.2 to 0.007 kgf/mm.sup.2.

Provided herein are shelf-stable protein food ingredients, food products comprising the shelf-stable protein food ingredients, methods of their production, and methods of their use. The shelf-stable protein food ingredients comprise cultured fungal biomass and a limited amount of water. Advantageously, the shelf-stable protein food ingredients can be stored, transported, and delivered within the food supply.

Provided herein are dairy-like analogue compositions and the methods of making the same using one or more recombinant proteins.

Protein-rich nutrient supplements and animal feed supplements derived from an anaerobic bacterial process are generated through a myriad of cell rupturing and protein fractionation/purification processes. Bacterial fermentation systems and methods of obtaining one or more protein-containing portions from a fermentation process using carbon monoxide-containing gaseous substrates are provided. The invention further provides compositions of protein-rich nutrient supplements with useful applications for intake by a variety of different animals and humans.

Microorganisms and bioprocesses are provided that convert gaseous substrates, such as renewable H.sub.2 and waste CO.sub.2 producer gas, or syngas into high-protein biomass that may be used directly for human nutrition, or as a nutrient for plants, fungi, or other microorganisms, or as a source of soil carbon, nitrogen, and other mineral nutrients. Renewable H.sub.2 used in the processes described herein may be generated by electrolysis using solar or wind power. Producer gas used in the processes described herein may be derived from sources that include gasification of waste feedstock and/or biomass residue, waste gas from industrial processes, or natural gas, biogas, or landfill gas.

This disclosure provides a technology for developing alternative protein sources for use in industrial food production. The technology mines sequence data by a process that is done partly in silico. Instead of sampling and testing a vast library of compounds, machine learning and implementation narrows the field of functional candidates by predictive modeling based on known protein structure. Candidate proteins that are selected by this analysis are then produced and screened in a high-throughput manner by recombinant expression and testing to determine whether they have a target function. Multiple cycles of the machine learning, database mining, expression, and testing are done to yield potential ingredients suitable for assessment as part of a commercial food product.