## 3 Results and Discussion
### Manufacturing of Edible Mushroom-Based Meat Analogue  
The edible mushroom-based meat analogue was successfully produced using thermos-extrusion. When squeezed out of the machine, the extrudate was expanded and formed a characteristic meat-like fiber structure because the water in the ingredients was evaporated promptly when released from the high temperature and high pressure. The water content is crucial to the structure of extrudates because the mobility of proteins, cross-linking and water absorption are all affected by moisture [17]. In the present study, water contents of 35%, 70% and 100% were used in the ingredients and the \(a_{w}\) of the extrudate was evaluated. Figure 2A shows that only at a water content of 35%, was the \(a_{w}\) of the extrudate under 0.85, considered a relatively ideal value because it does not support microbial growth. Therefore, 35% was chosen as suitable water content for further experiments. An extrudate with a water content under 45% should be rehydrated before further application [18]. The time for rehydration in the present study was optimized based on the hardness of the extruded edible mushroom-based meat analogue (Figure 2B). The hardness gradually decreased as the extrudate was soaked in water until it became stable after 8 h, so this was set as the appropriate time of rehydration for further experiments. Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the preparation of mushroom-based meat sausage analogue (MMSA). The edible mushroom content significantly affected the flavor and textural properties, greatly influencing the final characteristics and the added value of the products. In the present study, between 15% and 100% mushrooms were in the ingredients for producing the meat analogues. All the extrudates emerged from the dye successfully, and the \(a_{w}\) was increased with the amounts of mushroom (Figure 2C). While the content of mushroom was more than 45%, the \(a_{w}\) was more than 0.85, a condition facilitating the growth of microorganisms. After rehydration, the meat analogue with 100% added edible mushrooms was dispersed in water with the solids presenting as a mud of almost negligible hardness, thus restricting further processing. The discrepancies in structure and textural characteristics between meat analogues with different levels of added edible mushroom and beef were evaluated using a texture profile analysis (TPA). Compared with beef, the meat analogue was the most similar in the hardness value when mushroom addition was 15% (Figure 2D), with the fracture properties exhibiting a similar trend (Figure S1), while there were no differences in springiness and viscosity between meat analogues (Figures S2 and S3). With regard to its shelf-life and textural properties, an addition of 15% was a suitable proportion of mushroom in the meat analogue. To meet consumer expectations, meat analogues have been developed to simulate the appearance, texture, flavor and taste characteristics of animal meat products. Selecting an edible mushroom for use in formulating meat analogues can also greatly influence the organoleptic characteristics of the final products [19]. Thus, _Lentius edodes_ (LE), _Pleurotus  
Figure 2: **(A)** The \(a_{w}\) of mushroom-based meat analogues with water contents from 35% to 100%; **(B)** The hardness of mushroom-based meat analogues with different rehydration times; **(C)** The \(a_{w}\) and **(D)** hardness of mushroom-based meat analogues with contents of edible mushroom from 15% to 100% compared with beef. _ostreatus_ (PO), _Coprinus comatus_ (CC) in a mixture of equal proportions were used for the meat analogues based on the suitable water content (35%) and mushroom amount (15%). The \(a_{w}\) of extrudate from CC was the greatest of the extrudates but all were less than 0.85 (Table 2), indicating they were suitable for product storage and prolonged shelf life to a certain extent. The use of different species of mushrooms in the ingredients significantly influenced the texture of the meat analogues (Table 2).