Dielectric drying of fungal material and resultant textured product

A process comprising dewatering a fermenter effluent to form a mycelial fungal mass which contains from 15 to 40 weight percent solids, reducing the turgor of the mycelia until said mycelia become limp, mechanically working said mycelia to form an elongated texturized strip containing oriented mycelia, passing said elongated texturized strip through a dielectric field wherein the residence time of any part of the elongated texturized strip in said dielectric field is from about 30 to about 300 seconds during which period the solids content thereof is increased from 8 to 40 weight percent as based on total dewatered composition whereby a product containing from 30 to 70 weight percent solids is produced.

A process comprising dewatering a fermenter effluent to form a mycelial fungal mass which contains from 15 to 40 weight percent solids, reducing the turgor of the mycelia until said mycelia become limp, forming a shaped article from said limp mycelia, applying a dielectric field to said shaped article at a rate such that said shaped article remains within 20 percent of its original volume while the solids content thereof is increased from 8 to 40 weight percent as based on the total dewatered composition whereby a product containing from 30 to 70 weight percent solids is produced, and further drying the article at a slower rate to contain less than 10 weight percent water over a period of from about 20 minutes to about 20 hours.

A process comprising dewatering a fermenter effluent to form a mycelial fungal mass which contains from 15 to 40 weight percent solids, reducing the turgor of the mycelia until said mycelia became limp, mechanically working said mycelia to form an elongated texturized strip from about 0.2 cm to about 15 cm in thickness containing oriented mycelia, passing said elongated texturized strip through a dielectric field applied at a rate such that the volume of the elongated texturized strip remains within 20 percent of its original volume while the solids content thereof is increased from 8 to 40 weight percent as based on the total dewatered composition whereby a product containing from 30 to 70 weight percent solids is produced, and further drying the strip at a slower rate to contain less than 10 weight percent water over a period of from about 20 minutes to about 20 hours.

A mycelial fungal mass having a solids content of from 40 to 60 weight percent which upon being dried to less than a 10 weight percent moisture content has an apparent bulk density of from about 0.52 to 0.73 grams per cc and which on boiling in water at atmospheric pressure will absorb from 1 to 5 times its dry weight of water which mass comprises relatively coarse fibers having a diameter of from 0.2 to 1.0 mm and an average length to diameter ratio of greater than 20, interconnected by hyphae having an average length to diameter ratio of from 10 to 1,000 and an average diameter of from 0.004 to 0.01 mm.

A texturized mycelial fungal mass, containing less than 10 weight percent moisture, which has an apparent bulk density of from about 0.52 to 0.73 grams per cc which on boiling in water for 20 minutes at atmospheric pressure will absorb from 1 to 5 times its weight of water, which mass comprises relatively coarse fibers having a diameter of from 0.2 to 1.0 mm and an average length to diameter ratio of greater than 20, interconnected by hyphae having an average length to diameter ratio of from 10 to 1,000 and an average diameter of from 0.004 to 0.01 mm.