Evening star., 1952-10-31
Food Source of Future
Held Possible in MoIds
Offer PotentioIs for Output
Of Futs and Proteins
By Thomos R. Henry


Molds may be an important food
source of the future-when the present
food resources of the world are too
small for the zooming population.
They offer almost untapped possible
ties for the production of two essentials
of all human and animal diets-fats and
proteins. They are fungi which grow
with extreme rapidity on almost any
base Of ohydrates-starches and
sugars.
Up to now there have been extensive
food-producing experiments with vari-
Gus yeasts and the very rapidly increas.
ing alga. chlorella. The molds generally
have been overlooked. except briefly in
Germany during the starvation days Of
the war. Perhaps the best promise is
that Of growing them in enormous guam
titles on wood wastes. which now are
almost completely unutilized.
Potential Long Recognized.
DR.. Radcliffe F. Robinson. microbiolo-
gist Of the Battelle Institute. Philadel-
phia. describes the present status Of
investigations in q publication just is
sued by the American Association for
the Advancement of Science.
The potentialities of various types Of
fungi. he points out. have been recog-
nized for some years. It is known, for
example, that from a given quantity Of
carbohydrates the protein production is
about IS per cent compared with about
20 per cent for pork, Is per cent for
milk, S per cent for poultry. and per
cent for beef. Proteins are made up Of
the nitrogen containing molecules, the
amino acids. They provide the basic ma
terials of the body, such as muscles and
glands. The protein diet of human be-
ing requires at least eleven of these
amino acids in proper proportions. Un-
fortunately, plant proteins seldom pro-
vide the proper proportions. There Is
growing evidence, however. that the
mold proteins may be considerably closer
to animal proteins than those Of the rest
Of the plant kingdom.
Five varieties of molds were used for
food production during the war, accord
ing to reports obtained after the war.
They were not entirely satisfactory, ac-
cording to German doctors. but the
health of most of those who ate them
was somewhat better than that Of those
subsisting on the regular available diet.
which was quite inadequate in fats and
proteins. Two mold strains were found
to be exceptionally high in the essential
amino acids, cystine, methionine and
glutathione. Probably the most impor-
tant of these is cystine. Yeast and most
other plant growths are seriously def
cient.
Experiments in Japan
Japan also experimental with mold
foods, With one variety, a Japanese in
vestigator reported, he could synthesiZe
out of carbohydrates eleven amino acids
-argenine, histidine, lysine, cystine,
tyrosine, tryptophane, adenine, hypo-
xanthine, betain and Stachydrine. All
of these may be essential to human diet.
The mold grown, he found contained
38 per cent protein, 80 per cent Of which
was digestible by human beings. It
proved an adequate diet for white rats
but appeared deficient for humans. He
found that it was high in two major
components of the Vitamin B complex.
The Importance of fats in diets Is
second only to that of proteins. German
scientists made extensive studies OF
the possibilities Of making fats out Of
molds during the war. They fed the
materials they obtained to prisoners in
concentration camps and there were
some bad results. The picture, however.
does not seem to have been as bad as
sometimes painted.
One process was to use mold to
ferment milk whey. About II to IA
grams Of fat was produced for each 100
grams of carbohydrate consumed. Some
of the best results have been obtained
with a method developed and patented
in the United States with selected
mold strain fed on q wide variety Of
sugars, most of which do not enter into
human diet. Maximum growth and
maximum fat content Of the mold Is
reached in about 48 hours. The product
consists of about 81 per cent fat.