Holoss - Project MycoStruct

Project: MycoStruct - MYcelium-based COmplete Protein STRUCTures for Whole-Cut Scale-Up

Start: 01/05/2026 End: 30/04/2029

Project website: https://soul-biobased.eu/

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No. 101292039.

DESCRIPTION: Europe faces urgent challenges in securing sustainable, nutritious protein sources. A reliance on meat and imported soy drives high greenhouse gas emissions, land use change, biodiversity loss, and health risks. Plant-based and other novel protein alternatives are growing, but face limitations in texture, nutrition, and consumer acceptance particularly in delivering authentic whole-cut formats like steaks and fillets, which dominate conventional meat consumption but remain scarce among alternatives. MycoStruct addresses this gap by scaling up an innovative fermentation platform that produces structured mycelium proteins with natural meat-like texture, superior nutrition, and clean-label simplicity. The process grows semi-solid mycelial structures directly within fermentation vessels, eliminating the need for heavy processing, binders, or additives. The result is a fibrous, steak-like product with >50% high-quality protein, full amino acid profile, and bio-fortified iron and vitamin B12 levels equivalent to beef, while being cholesterol-free, low in saturated fat, and rich in dietary fibre. The project will scale production tenfold, from pilot to a 5 kL demonstration facility. It will integrate sustainable feedstocks from agricultural and food industry side streams, reducing costs and environmental impacts. Advanced modelling will support scale-up towards 1 kL industrial systems, enabling rapid replication across Europe. By combining cutting-edge biotechnology with circular economy principles, MycoStruct will deliver sustainable proteins with up to 93% lower greenhouse gas emissions and 99% reductions in land and water use compared to beef. Consumer co-design, sensory testing, and chef-led demonstrations will ensure high acceptance, positioning structured mycelium as a mainstream protein option. The project contributes directly to the EU Bioeconomy, Farm-to-Fork, and Food 2030 strategies, strengthening Europe’s resilience, food security, and sustainability.

HOLOSS AND HOLOSS RESEARCH ROLE:

HOLOSS performs value chain screening to identify sustainability hotspots, critical stages and improvement opportunities across the MycoStruct value chains.

HOLOSS, as workpackage leader and the main player in sustainability in the MycoStruct consortium, applies the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework, supporting the development of mycelium-based solutions that integrate safety, sustainability and circularity principles throughout their lifecycle.

HOLOSS and HOLOSS RESEARCH evaluate the environmental performance of MycoStruct solutions through Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), supporting the identification of impacts and optimisation opportunities during scale-up.

HOLOSS assesses the economic viability of MycoStruct technologies using Life Cycle Costing (LCC), supporting cost-efficient development and future market deployment.

HOLOSS analyses social impacts through Social Life Cycle Assessment (s-LCA), ensuring the integration of stakeholder perspectives and social sustainability considerations.

Under the leadership of HOLOSS, compliance with safety requirements is ensured through the assessment of materials, substances and production processes, supporting the safe development of MycoStruct innovations.

HOLOSS and HOLOSS RESEARCH evaluate circularity and end-of-life (EoL) performance, identifying opportunities to improve resource efficiency, reuse, recycling and sustainable material recovery.

They develop roadmaps and strategic recommendations to support the sustainable scale-up, deployment and long-term adoption of MycoStruct solutions.

HOLOSS and HOLOSS RESEARCH deliver a holistic SSbD assessment integrating environmental, economic, social and safety dimensions, complemented by circularity and end-of-life evaluations to identify optimisation opportunities and support sustainable innovation pathways.

They support product positioning strategies by identifying sustainability, safety and circularity attributes that strengthen market differentiation and stakeholder acceptance.