Feeding the World Population
- Biotechnology involves the alteration and use of living organisms to produce products for human use
- Some forms of biotechnology have been around for thousands of years eg. agriculture and selective breeding to produce better foods
- Modern biotechnology techniques include genetic modification and the ability to culture large quantities of microorganisms for food
- Biotechnology may be able to help provide sufficient food for the increasing human population
Mycoprotein – the process of creating food from a fungus
- The fungus Fusarium is cultured (grown) on an industrial scale in fermenters
- These fermenters are large vats that can be kept at the optimum pH and temperature for Fusarium to grow
- The fungus is grown in aerobic conditions (it is provided with oxygen) and provided with glucose syrup as a food source (to allow the fungus to respire)
- The fungus grows and multiplies within the fermenter
- The fungal biomass is then harvested and purified to produce mycoprotein
- Mycoprotein is a protein-rich food suitable for vegetarians
- For example, it is used in QuornTM products
A diagram of an industrial fermenter used to produce large quantities of microorganisms