mould for food???

[joko]

In theory, if mould was allowed to grow to a decent size (grown from a food source) then removed from its 'host', then cooked thoroughly (or some other bacteria killing treatment), would it be safe to eat? If so, would there be any nutritional content?

Just wondered...

[tony1941]

Yes, and yes.  You can buy some in your supermarket, it's called "Quorn" .  See this link:    http://www.cspinet.org/quorn/

It seems not everyone thinks it's safe to eat!!

[boobesque]

wow, that explains why every time i eat it i get really sick! i thought it must have been certain ingridients in one or two of the products, seems i am allergic to them all!

[Buenchico]

The problem is that 'mould' doesn't have a unique meaning. There are thousands of different types of mould. Some can be beneficial (e.g. penicillium, which, as the name suggests, contains penicillin), some are harmless and others contain toxins which are extremely dangerous. So, unless you isolate the beneficial moulds from the harmful ones, the 'aggregate mould' would be unsafe to eat.

(If, like me, you love blue cheese, then you'll be very familiar with consuming a product which contains harmless mould - that's what the blue bits are!).

As to whether there would be any nutritional benefit then, yes, I suposse there must be, because there's a high protein content.

Chris

[joko]

I realise lots of things come from fungus, like mushrooms, quorn, and blue cheese, but for instance if you left a half cup of tea under your bed for three months, scraped off the wedge of mould and nuked it in the microwave for a while - could you safely eat it? and would the mould itself contain any nutrients?

(not that I am going to do this! ... though I may have a three month old teacup somewhere...mmm... ; )

[Buenchico]

There are some circumstances where the cooking process will change something from 'poisonous' to 'safe' - red kidney beans come to mind - but, in general, something which contains toxins prior to cooking will still have the toxins present after cooking. So, no, your 'nuked' mould wouldn't be safe to eat.

(Sorry, I haven't got the slightest idea as to what the vitamin content of mould might be!).

Chris