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MycoTechnology has achieved several technical and safety objectives, surpassing its initial expected timeline on its path to commercialising its honey truffle sweetener. The honey truffle sweetener has the potential to provide a valuable alternative to sugar and existing sweeteners. In less than a year since the announcement of its discovery, MycoTechnology has scaled production from the lab bench to 3000-litre tanks, improving production process efficiency, optimising costs and validating safety and digestibility. Claimed to be the first new, naturally-derived sweetener discovered in decades, honey truffle sweetener is emerging as a novel, clean label addition to the sweet proteins category. Honey truffles are recognised for their intensely sweet taste. After isolating the protein responsible for this sweet flavour, MycoTechnology used precision fermentation technology to produce the ‘world’s first’ honey truffle sweetener. Its potency ranges from 1000-2500 times sweeter than sucrose. The company has revealed that its recent safety evaluations, including genetic testing for toxicity, allergenicity and digestibility, have shown that the protein is not considered to be allergenic or toxic and is fully digestible by the human gastrointestinal tract. According to MycoTechnology, rather than being absorbed in its intact form, the sweetener breaks down completely into amino acids that are routinely found in other dietary protein sources, such as meat, fish or eggs. In silico analysis also suggests that the molecule has no similarity to any other known protein structures, and therefore has minimal potential for other secondary effects beyond sweetness. Sue Potter, senior director for global regulatory affairs at MycoTechnology, said: “Following global best practices in partnership with world-class industry experts, our findings suggest that honey truffle sweetener is likely to be an ideal general-purpose sweetener for foods and beverages. We’re confident in the results we’ve received so far, and we’re on track for regulatory submissions in key global jurisdictions.” The food-tech start-up has also reported steady improvements in strain development, process yield and quality as it continues to scale up production in its facility. Simplified downstream processing will allow for flexible and less capital-intensive manufacturing, the company said, positioning its honey truffle sweetener to be ‘economically competitive’ with sugar and other high-intensity sweeteners. Ranjan Patnaik, MycoTechnology’s chief technology officer, commented: “Our team has achieved remarkable results, exceeding initial expectations for speed of scale-up, mechanistic understanding of the protein, sensory characterisation and applications development with industry partners. This progress is a reflection of Myco’s unique ability to integrate discovery with commercial development to quickly create innovative, impactful solutions from nature.”