• Mycelium and conventional meat-substitutes replaced meat in Dutch dinners. • Mushroom or legume substitution lowered utilizable protein below requirements. • Median utilizable protein in mycelium-substituted meals stayed above requirements. • Mycelium substitution cuts environmental impact, also per gram of utilizable protein. • Mushroom mycelium is a promising novel protein source for Dutch evening meals. Replacing meat with more sustainable alternatives sometimes compromises nutritional adequacy, particularly protein quality and quantity. This study investigates whether substituting meat in the Dutch evening meal with novel mycelium-based foods from mushroom-producing fungi can maintain recommended levels of utilizable protein intake while lowering diet-related environmental impact. Modelled dietary scenarios were developed using data from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey. We compared meat with a range of non-animal protein sources including novel mushroom mycelial proteins, commercial fungal proteins (e.g., Fusarium venenatum ), legumes, mushrooms, and plant-based meat alternatives. Meals were evaluated for protein quality (protein digestibility corrected amino acid score), utilizable protein content (≥0.25 g/kg body weight) and several environmental impact indicators. Mycelium-based substituted meals maintained median utilizable protein intake above recommended levels, while only slightly increasing the proportion of individuals with inadequate intake. Substitution with legumes or mushrooms more frequently resulted in insufficient protein. Optimized mycoproteins such as Quorn provided consistently high protein quality. Mycelium-substituted meals reduced environmental indicators by 11-57%. The environmental benefit remained present when assessed per gram of utilizable protein. Mycelium-based foods offer a promising strategy to reduce the environmental impact of current Dutch dinners without compromising protein quality. Combined with their unique flavour, mycelium of mushroom-producing fungi can provide a tasty, high-quality protein source, which supports circular food systems through the use of side-stream substrates.
Zwinkels et al. (Sun,) studied this question.