UC Berkeley microbiologist Vayu Hill-Maini is pioneering a unique approach to addressing food waste by using fungi. With a background as both a chef and a chemist, Hill-Maini is working on transforming discarded food into culinary creations using Neurospora intermedia, a widespread filamentous fungus. This organism has the ability to break down agricultural waste into edible, nutritious food in just 36 hours, offering a promising solution to the large-scale waste generated in food production.
His work underscores a simple but revolutionary idea: the waste of today could become the food of tomorrow.
The Fungus That Feasts on Food Waste
Hill-Maini's work focuses on using Neurospora intermedia to ferment various types of food waste, including oat pulp and soy pulp, into gourmet dishes. He has collaborated with high-profile chefs, such as Rasmus Munk of the Michelin-starred restaurant Alchemist in Copenhagen, where one of the desserts served is a creation inspired by Hill-Maini: orange-coloured Neurospora mold grown on rice.
For the past two years, Hill-Maini has also partnered with the Michelin two-star restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, using Neurospora to develop dishes from waste such as the pulp left over from oat milk production. These innovations have led to dishes like patties of grain covered with orange Neurospora and fried rice bread that mimics the flavour and texture of a toasted cheese sandwich.
This effort is part of a broader movement in the culinary and scientific worlds to explore how fungi can transform food waste into high-value products. Historically, many cultures have used fungi in food production, from yeast turning grain into alcohol to Aspergillus oryzae (koji mold) transforming soybeans into soy sauce and miso. However, Neurospora intermedia stands out because it has been used specifically to create food from waste, such as oncom, a traditional Indonesian dish made by fermenting soy or peanut pulp.
According to Hill-Maini, Neurospora could revolutionise the way we think about food waste by making it not only edible but delicious. His research, conducted in collaboration with chefs, shows that Neurospora can grow on a range of substrates, including sugarcane bagasse and tomato pomace, producing nutritious food without toxins.
Neurospora intermedia, an orange mold, turns day-old bread into a cheesy treat when toasted (left). The mold transforms sugarless rice custard into a sweet dessert served at the Alchemist restaurant in Copenhagen (right). Credits: Blue Hill at Stone Barns and Alchemist
Scientific Breakthroughs and Culinary Potential
A recent paper by Hill-Maini, published in Nature Microbiology, explored the genetics of Neurospora intermedia and its ability to degrade cellulose-rich waste. His findings revealed that domesticated strains of Neurospora are better at breaking down plant material than their wild counterparts, a discovery that suggests the fungus may have adapted to the agricultural by-products humans have generated over centuries.
Hill-Maini is now focused on scaling up his research, developing practical solutions for tackling global food waste. By partnering with restaurants like Alchemist and Blue Hill, he is creating a space for experimentation, allowing chefs and scientists to collaborate on fungal innovations. Blue Hill even installed a microbiology lab to further explore these possibilities.
The Future of Fungal Foods
Hill-Maini's culinary background plays a significant role in his approach. Having grown up in a culturally diverse household where food was central, he transitioned from working in New York City restaurants to studying biochemistry at Harvard University, where he focused on the gut microbiome. His unique combination of culinary and scientific expertise now drives his mission to reduce food waste through innovative fermentation processes.
He envisions a future where food waste can be transformed into valuable products using fungi, potentially reshaping the way we approach sustainability in the food industry. As Hill-Maini notes, "The science that I do – it’s a new way of cooking, a new way of looking at food that hopefully makes it into solutions that could be relevant for the world."
As Hill-Maini prepares to continue his research at Stanford University, where he will serve as an assistant professor of bioengineering, the potential of Neurospora and other fungi to address food waste issues continues to grow. His work shows how something as humble as a fungus could hold the key to creating a more sustainable food system, turning what would otherwise be discarded into culinary delights.