The raincoat of fungi heads towards your food
In 2006 BASF was reporting further work is necessary before hydrophobins can be used in commercial products. This year, researchers from Unilever have reported breakthrough results that proteins from fungus could produce food foams with stability that exceeds anything currently available. Using hydrophobin HFBII at a concentration of only 0.1% to produce a foam with exceptional stability, that could lead to improvements in the physical and sensory properties of a range of products, including low fat whipping cream, ice cream and sorbets, state authors in the journal Food Hydrocolloids. And a team at the University of the Birmingham Centre for Formulation Engineering is developing a microstructure, an air filled emulsion coated in protein - that resembles the physical properties of a fat globule. The protein is hydrophobin which comes from mushrooms. This new structure could replace fat in foods such as salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces and even spreads and margarines.
Well Macintosh may mean Apples to some, but macintosh equals a survival outfit for the rain to others. Now BASF has taken a look at how the humble fungus repels water, allowing non-soggy mushroom to reach the consumer.
It's all to do with proteins for surfaces. The raincoat on a fungus is not a garment, but a substance called Hydrophobin. You will find this protein on the skin of fungi where its job is simply to repel water droplets, to make them roll off the fungi.
Because this trait is not only useful to fungi, but can also be used for technical applications as well, scientists from BASF have become interested in Hydrophobin. Using a biotechnological process, they are the first who managed to produce Hydrophobin in a large scale.
In a Podcast of “Chemistry of Innovations” you can learn how a fungi-protein Hydrophobin makes surfaces water-repellent. BASF Corporate Communications started a regular bilingual Podcast service in April 2007 to report innovations and R&D activities in an easy-to-understand, informative and entertaining way.
Listen to the audio reportage with Dr. Thomas Subkowski, Dr. Claus Bollschweiler und Dr. Marvin Karos from BASF Fine Chemicals and Biocatalysis Research.
Podcast Chemistry of Innovations, English editions:http://www.basf.com/podcast