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used by the people in immense quantity. Some of these alcoholic beverages are
prepared using fungi (Walker and Stewart 2016).
Kombucha, an alcoholic drink, referred as tea fungus or tea mushroom, is consumed by many people and has been shown to have numerous health benefits. This
drink is green or black in colour. It is produced by symbiotic culture of bacteria and
yeast (SCOBY). In this, the bacterial element is Gluconacetobacter, while the yeast
element is Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Ayed et al. 2017). Upon consumption this
drink can provide various health benefits such as anticancer activity, reduction in
constipation, reduction in blood sugar level, etc. (Dufresne and Farnworth 2000).
3.5 Applications
Fungi are universal and are present in soil, water, air and organism or on the outer
covering of organisms. They impact not only the life of a common man but also that
of manufacturers, microbiologists and farm experts. They are not only used in preparation of food like soya sauce but also used in many industries to develop beneficial
antibiotics and to command pest and microorganism outbreak. Hence, there are
many applications of fungi.
3.5.1 Exploited as Nutraceuticals
Many food items are regarded as nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are those food substances which add health benefits and medical values to the consumers. However,
many factors such as environmental pollution, high value, low production, resource
misuse and inadequate raw material make their extraction very difficult (Liu et al.
2017). Many GRAS fungi have been identified for the preparation of nutraceuticals.
Some nutraceutical productions have been accomplished by using strains such as
Sclerotium rolfsii (Wang et al. 2016). Metabolic engineering through microbial production is also found to be an efficient and eco-friendly method for large-scale
nutraceutical production. Commonly used fungi in food industries such as
Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be metabolically regulated and can potentially produce polyamino acids, prebiotics and polysaccharides (Borodina and Nielson 2014).
3.5.2 Antioxidant Activity
Antioxidants are those compounds which inhibit oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical
reaction which causes the degradation of food items. Hence, antioxidants stop hazardous chemical reaction caused by oxidants. Some of the antioxidants present in
food items are selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C and carotenoids.
3 GRAS Fungi: A New Horizon in Safer Food Product
used by the people in immense quantity. Some of these alcoholic beverages are
prepared using fungi (Walker and Stewart 2016).
Kombucha, an alcoholic drink, referred as tea fungus or tea mushroom, is consumed by many people and has been shown to have numerous health benefits. This
drink is green or black in colour. It is produced by symbiotic culture of bacteria and
yeast (SCOBY). In this, the bacterial element is Gluconacetobacter, while the yeast
element is Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Ayed et al. 2017). Upon consumption this
drink can provide various health benefits such as anticancer activity, reduction in
constipation, reduction in blood sugar level, etc. (Dufresne and Farnworth 2000).
3.5 Applications
Fungi are universal and are present in soil, water, air and organism or on the outer
covering of organisms. They impact not only the life of a common man but also that
of manufacturers, microbiologists and farm experts. They are not only used in preparation of food like soya sauce but also used in many industries to develop beneficial
antibiotics and to command pest and microorganism outbreak. Hence, there are
many applications of fungi.
3.5.1 Exploited as Nutraceuticals
Many food items are regarded as nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are those food substances which add health benefits and medical values to the consumers. However,
many factors such as environmental pollution, high value, low production, resource
misuse and inadequate raw material make their extraction very difficult (Liu et al.
2017). Many GRAS fungi have been identified for the preparation of nutraceuticals.
Some nutraceutical productions have been accomplished by using strains such as
Sclerotium rolfsii (Wang et al. 2016). Metabolic engineering through microbial production is also found to be an efficient and eco-friendly method for large-scale
nutraceutical production. Commonly used fungi in food industries such as
Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be metabolically regulated and can potentially produce polyamino acids, prebiotics and polysaccharides (Borodina and Nielson 2014).
3.5.2 Antioxidant Activity
Antioxidants are those compounds which inhibit oxidation. Oxidation is a chemical
reaction which causes the degradation of food items. Hence, antioxidants stop hazardous chemical reaction caused by oxidants. Some of the antioxidants present in
food items are selenium, vitamin E, vitamin C and carotenoids.
3 GRAS Fungi: A New Horizon in Safer Food Product