A natural sweet protein from honey truffle, a rare mushroom, has been unearthed by MycoTechnology, a company dedicated to mushroom research and innovation. The business plans to introduce honey truffle sweetener, a novel sugar substitute that could curb sugar intake and promote better health.

The company explains that it is dedicated to increasing the availability of healthy, sustainable, clean label and high-quality food options through natural mushroom fermentation.

“Honey truffle sweetener has a sugar-like taste without the negative aftertaste of common natural sweeteners. It will be classified as a non-nutritive, high-intensity sweetener,” a MycoTechnology spokesperson tells Food Ingredients First.

“While it has the same calories as other proteins, it is between 1,500 and 2,500 times sweeter than sugar, so the caloric value will be negligible. Our fermentation technology allows us to reproduce the sweet protein sustainably and efficiently, without ongoing cultivation or harvesting.”

“With negligible caloric value and no aftertaste, honey truffle sweetener can be a useful alternative in a wide range of applications,” the spokesperson underscores.

Unearthing truffles secrets
MycoTechnology has been exploring the elusive truffle for years to discover what makes it so tasty. The honey truffle, a prized delicacy consumed for centuries, contains a sweet protein that the company has now identified and extracted. 

Using its innovative technologies, MycoTechnology taps into the power of fungi to solve new problems in the food industry.

“Our honey truffle sweetener is derived from a protein, which brings an unprecedented level of excitement as proteins are widely recognized as the future of sweeteners,” says Alan Hahn, CEO at MycoTechnology. 

“This breakthrough ushers in a new era of clean label sweeteners, revolutionizing the way we create foods and beverages without relying on traditional sugar or artificial sweeteners.”

The company unveils that the development has “sparked enthusiasm” in the sweetener sector, opening up possibilities for sector collaboration. 

“A significant development in the sweetener sector, the news is already sparking enthusiasm, with several commercial partners expressing their interest in new collaborations. 

Scaling up production
The company is working on a proprietary platform to produce more, spend less and optimize yields. According to the business, the result is a clean, intense natural sweetness with an expected cost-in-use competitive with sugar and the absence of aftertaste.

In January, Mycotechnology received Novel Food status for its MLL and PTP, two of its mycelia main ingredient products. They are produced using a patented mycelial fermentation platform that improves plant protein’s sensory, functional and nutritional attributes.

This approval opened the door for the US-based corporation to expand into the European market for the first time.