Food & Feed Improvement Agents

Our range of research and services

Production of novel food and animal feed products

Analysing food and animal feed

 
  • Basic food chemistry analyses of food and feed from insects and fungi
  • Determination of the amino acid profile of fungi and insects
  • Fungi-specific analyses: glucance, vitamins, ergosterol, sugar analysis, lipid analysis

Sensory evaluation of food and animal feed

 
  • Sensory evaluation of food made from mushrooms and insects
  • Qualitative and quantitative aroma analysis using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometric and olfactometric detectors (GC-MS-O)
  • Determination of key flavors and off-flavors of food

Fermentation with edible mushrooms

  • Fixed bed and liquid fermentation of side streams of agriculture and the food industry
  • Strain collection of> 500 mushroom strains (approx. 100 edible mushrooms and more than 400 other mushrooms)
  • Optimization of the fermentation process for edible mushrooms
  • Cultivation of edible mushrooms in bioreactors

Our research motivation

© Fraunhofer IME | Jennifer Kuhn

With an annual turnover of around € 165 billion and growth rates of 10% and more, the food industry is one of the most important branches of industry in Germany. Biotechnologically produced foods have always been of outstanding importance. In Germany, for example, around 10 billion litres of beer and around 2 billion litres of wine are consumed every year. Enzymatic or fermentative processes are also indispensable for the production of yoghurt, cheese, sauerkraut, baked goods, tempeh or soy sauce, for example. While the production of these foods is usually based on traditional experience, modern biotechnological and molecular biological methods now open up the possibility of fundamentally understanding the biochemical relationships. Based on the elucidation of metabolic pathways and the enzymes and gene clusters involved, strategies can be developed to make food safer, healthier and tastier. In view of the growing world population, climate change and the increasing competition for renewable raw materials to cover energy requirements, food must also be produced in a more resource-efficient way in the future. The ‘Biotechnology of Food & Feed Improvement Agents’ department is therefore pursuing sustainable solutions for the food and feed industry.

Our Projects

 

»FutureProteins«

Coupled agricultural systems for resilient and resource-optimised production of high-quality food proteins

 

»Terpenoids from fungi«

Discovery of new terpenoids, evaluation of potential areas of application and production of compounds and samples for industrial use.

Press

 

6.7.2025

Start-up on the road to success

In June, Fressnapf will be launching dog and cat food containing proteins based on silkworm pupae for the first time in Europe. The manufacturer of these proteins is the start-up Prombyx from Giessen.

 

Food biotechnology: meat substitutes made from mushroom mycelium

Selected publications

Nayak A, Rühl M, Klüber P (2024)

Bioconversion efficiency and chemical composition of Hermetia illucens larvae fed spent mushroom substrates.

AMB Express, 14:133.

Güldemund A, Klüber P, Weyand S, Zeller V (2025)

Integrating regional survey data into life cycle assessment: prospective environmental consequences of directing apple pomace to insect farming.

Int. J. Life Cycle Assess.

Klüber P, Gurusinga FF, Hurka S, Vilcinskas A, Tegtmeier D (2024)

Turning trash into treasure: Hermetia illucens microbiome and biodegradation of industrial side streams.

Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 90(11):e00991-24.

Brescia FF, Passinger J, Wende RC, Schreiner PR, Zorn H, Fraatz MA (2024)

Determining ultra-low organic molecular odor thresholds in air helps identify the most potent fungal aroma compound.

J Agric Food Chem.

Happel K, Zeller L, Hammer AK, Zorn H (2025)

Umami enhancing properties of enzymatically hydrolyzed mycelium of Flammulina velutipes cultured on potato pulp.

Food Sci Nutr 13:e70128.

Calvo-Baltanás V, Vilcinskas A, Brück T, Kloas W, Wilke T, Rufino M, Henkel M, Zorn H, Monje O, Asseng S (2025)

The future potential of controlled environment agriculture.

PNAS Nexus 4:pgaf078.

Happel K, Müller L, Hartwig C, Zorn H (2025)

Degradation of potato pulp glycoalkaloids by fermentation.

Eur Food Res Technol.

Karrer D, Gand M, Rühl M (2021)

Expanding the biocatalytic toolbox with a new type of ene/yne‐reductase from Cyclocybe aegerita.

ChemCatChem 13:1–10.

Zhang C, Chen X, Orban A, Sukhal S, Birk F, Too H-P, Rühl M (2020)

Agrocybe aegerita serves as a gateway for identifying sesquiterpene biosynthetic enzymes in higher fungi.

ACS Chemical Biology 15:1268-1277.

Klüber P, Tegtmeier D, Hurka S, Pfeiffer J, Vilcinskas A, Rühl M, Zorn H (2022)

Diet Fermentation Leads to Microbial Adaptation in Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens; Linnaeus, 1758) Larvae Reared on Palm Oil Side Streams.

Sustainability 14:5626.

Nayak A, Rühl M, Klüber P (2023)

Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): Need, Potentiality, and Performance Measures.

Agriculture 14:8.

Orban AM, Eichberg J, Marner M, Breuer S, Patras MA, Mettal U, Schäberle TF, Rühl M (2024)

5’‐Methoxyarmillane, a Bioactive Sesquiterpenoid Aryl Ester from the Fungus Armillaria ostoyae.

ChemBioChem 25:e202400168.

More publications of »Food & Feed Improvement Agents«

 

Publications of the »Bioresources« section of the institute

Are you also interested in this topic? Then please contact us!

If you are interested in a collaboration or a research and development service, please contact us!

Prof. Dr. Holger Zorn

Deputy Head of the Institute Section »Bioresources« & Head of Department »Food & Feed Improvement Agents«

Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME

Phone +49 641 97219-130

Prof. Dr. Martin Rühl

Deputy Head of Department »Food & Feed Improvement Agents«

Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME

Phone +49 641 97219-278