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Quorn is a meat substitute product available in the UK, Ireland, the US, Australia, Norway, and other countries. Launched in 1985 by Marlow Foods (a joint venture between RHM and ICI) and now owned by Monde Nissin Corporation, Quorn is intended to replicate the taste and texture of meat.〔(What are Quorn products? )〕 All Quorn foods contain mycoprotein as an ingredient, which is derived from the ''Fusarium venenatum'' fungus and is grown by fermentation using a process that has been described as similar to the production of beer or yoghurt.〔Finnigan, TJA (2011) Mycoprotein: origins, production and properties. In ''Handbook of Food Proteins'' (eds. G. O. Philips and P. A. Williams), pp 335–352. Woodhead Publishing Ltd〕 The fungus culture is dried and mixed with egg albumen, which acts as a binder, and then is adjusted in texture and pressed into various forms. Quorn is a first class protein and contains all the essential amino acids that humans need, without cholesterol.〔(Quorn™ and mycoprotein nutrition )〕 Quorn can also benefit the environment because the product requires less land and fewer resources than meat or soya.〔(From vegan beef to fishless filets: meat substitutes are on the rise )〕 Further the carbon footprint of Quorn Frozen Mince in the UK is claimed to be 70% less than that of beef.〔Quorn Frozen Mince certification by the Carbon Trust: http://www.ktponline.org.uk/ktp-provides-carbon-footprint-certification-for-quorn-tm/〕 Quorn is produced as both a cooking ingredient and a range of ready meals. It is sold (largely in Europe, but also in other parts of the world) as a health food alternative to meat. After it switched to using free-range eggs as an ingredient, the Vegetarian Society gave the product its seal of approval.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Vegetarian Society ) 〕 More meat eaters than vegetarians are now eating Quorn.〔 == History == Microbial biomass is produced commercially as single cell protein (SCP) for human food or animal feed and as viable yeast cells for the baking industry. The industrial production of bakers' yeast started in the early 1900s and yeast biomass was used as human food in Germany during WWI. The development of large-scale processes for the production of microbial biomass as a source of commercial protein began in earnest in the late 1960s. Several of the processes investigated did not come to fruition owing to political and economic problems but the establishment of the ICI Pruteen process for the production of bacterial SCP for animal feed was a milestone in the development of the fermentation industry. This process used continuous culture on an enormous scale (1500 m3). The economics of the production of SCP as animal feed were marginal, which eventually led to the discontinuation of the Pruteen process. The technical expertise gained from the Pruteen process assisted ICI in collaborating with Rank Hovis McDougall on a process for the production of fungal biomass for human food. A continuous fermentation process for the production of ''Fusarium venenatum'' biomass (marketed as Quorn) was developed using a 40-m3 air-lift fermenter.〔P. F. Stanbury, A. Whitaker and S. J. Hall, ''Principles of Fermentation Technology'', 2nd Edn, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1995.〕〔D. H. Sharp, ‘Bioprotein Manufacture-A Critical Assessment’, Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1989, Chapter 4, p. 53.〕 During the 1960s, it was predicted that by the 1980s there would be a shortage of protein-rich foods.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 History ) 〕 〔(From petri dish to plate: The £172m fungi ) The Independent published 2005-06-07, accessed 2011-06-27〕 In response to this, research programmes were undertaken to use single-cell biomass as an animal feed. Contrary to the trend, J. Arthur Rank instructed the Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) Research Centre to investigate converting starch (the waste product of cereal manufacturing undertaken by RHM) into a protein-rich food for human consumption. The filamentous fungus, ''Fusarium venenatum'', was discovered in 1967. After an extensive screening process,〔 〕 it was isolated as the best candidate. In 1985, RHM was given permission to sell mycoprotein for human consumption after a ten-year evaluation programme.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】 work = fda.gov ) 〕 〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quorn」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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