407: Are we on the cusp of a mushroom renaissance?
Mushrooms have been eaten since the earliest history; a constant, in cuisines and medicine. So, harnessing their functional properties is nothing new but the mushroom is turning out to be the perfect modern food. Low in calories and carbohydrates, fat, and sodium, cholesterol-free, chock full of vital nutrients and fibre, and, importantly, apparently loaded with nutraceutical properties. There is something of a boom in the mushroom world at the moment, in foraging, in sales of medicinal products, in grow-your-own mushroom kits. So how is the food and supplements industry taking advantage of this boom? And how might they be used in the functional foods of the future? There are 140,000 species of mushrooms, and still lots to learn about many of them. So, are we on the cusp of a mushroom renaissance? Guests: Andy Overall, Field Mycologist Simon Salter, Co-Founder, DIRTEA Zoey Henderson, Founder, Fungtn Grayson Hart, Founder, Puresport