1
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
X. Dai et al. (eds.), Fungi in Sustainable Food Production, Fungal Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64406-2_1
Chapter 1
Fungal Byproducts in Food Technology
Shubhi Singh and Smriti Gaur
1.1 Introduction
Fungi are one of the most unique kingdoms in biology. Because of their distinctive
characteristics, this kingdom has been a topic of intense studies by the researchers.
Since fungi are known to have special feature to grow under extreme conditions and
grow rapidly, these organisms have long been used at industrial level for the benefits
of humans in their everyday life (Guerriero et al. 2015). Fungi have many beneficial
roles in the field of economy, human health, biodecomposting, pharmaceuticals, and
many more. One important facet regarding the use of fungal cells for different applications is the study of fungal cells’ physiology. This term refers to study of the patterns of cell’s nutrition, growth, reproduction, and metabolic activities in detail.
Since fungal physiology plays a vital role in determining how fungus will interact
with its biotic and abiotic environment, it will influence its response during its use
in many applications (Walker and White 2017). Nowadays, fungi have been largely
used in the area of food science, pharmaceuticals, and biodecomposting. During
biodecomposting fungi are preferred more than the bacteria because these organisms have some special enzymes specifically for degrading the recalcitrant components. The recalcitrant components may be some phenolic compounds, azo dyes
having the nitrogenous bonds, hydrocarbons, etc. (Tortella et al. 2015). Fungi are
known to have rigid cell wall structure. As a result, this rigid cell wall protects the
inner cell from some inhibitory components such as getting absorbed, giving this
organism more versatility in resisting the harmful components (Gow et al. 2017).
Since these organisms are eukaryotes in nature, they are known to contain a higher
number of genes which provide them better ability to survive under any extreme
conditions. The role of fungi in the field of pharmaceuticals is very significant. At
S. Singh · S. Gaur (*)
Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India
e-mail: smriti.gaur@jiit.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
X. Dai et al. (eds.), Fungi in Sustainable Food Production, Fungal Biology,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64406-2_1
Chapter 1
Fungal Byproducts in Food Technology
Shubhi Singh and Smriti Gaur
1.1 Introduction
Fungi are one of the most unique kingdoms in biology. Because of their distinctive
characteristics, this kingdom has been a topic of intense studies by the researchers.
Since fungi are known to have special feature to grow under extreme conditions and
grow rapidly, these organisms have long been used at industrial level for the benefits
of humans in their everyday life (Guerriero et al. 2015). Fungi have many beneficial
roles in the field of economy, human health, biodecomposting, pharmaceuticals, and
many more. One important facet regarding the use of fungal cells for different applications is the study of fungal cells’ physiology. This term refers to study of the patterns of cell’s nutrition, growth, reproduction, and metabolic activities in detail.
Since fungal physiology plays a vital role in determining how fungus will interact
with its biotic and abiotic environment, it will influence its response during its use
in many applications (Walker and White 2017). Nowadays, fungi have been largely
used in the area of food science, pharmaceuticals, and biodecomposting. During
biodecomposting fungi are preferred more than the bacteria because these organisms have some special enzymes specifically for degrading the recalcitrant components. The recalcitrant components may be some phenolic compounds, azo dyes
having the nitrogenous bonds, hydrocarbons, etc. (Tortella et al. 2015). Fungi are
known to have rigid cell wall structure. As a result, this rigid cell wall protects the
inner cell from some inhibitory components such as getting absorbed, giving this
organism more versatility in resisting the harmful components (Gow et al. 2017).
Since these organisms are eukaryotes in nature, they are known to contain a higher
number of genes which provide them better ability to survive under any extreme
conditions. The role of fungi in the field of pharmaceuticals is very significant. At
S. Singh · S. Gaur (*)
Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, India
e-mail: smriti.gaur@jiit.ac.in