REFINES: Exploring Fungal Enzymes for Flavor Improvement in Plant-Based Protein Ingredients

This poster was presented at the Danish Microbiological Society Annual Congress in Copenhagen on November 11, 2025. The abstract for the poster presentation below can also be found as number P016 in the Abstract book DMS 2025. The poster was designed using Inkscape, and illustrations were created with or adapted from BioRender.com. Abstract for poster presentationOff-flavors are a common challenge in the utilization of protein-rich industrial side-streams fromplant-based sources. These compounds limit the sensory appeal and consumer acceptance ofotherwise valuable protein ingredients, such as the potato protein side-stream from the industrialstarch production. Potato protein has high nutritional value and functional properties, but its use infood is limited by off-flavors, such as the bitter-tasting glycoalkaloids α-chaconine and α-solanine.Although microbial degradation of these compounds has been reported, the responsible enzymaticmechanisms remain largely uncharacterized. In this study, we investigate a diverse set of filamentous fungi for their ability to produce enzymescapable of degrading glycoalkaloids. Several fungal pathogens of potatoes have evolved metabolicstrategies to circumvent the antimicrobial activity of glycoalkaloids. By exploring these metabolicprocesses, we seek to uncover enzymes with potential for the industrial scale degradation of potatooff-flavors to improve the potato protein side-streams sensory quality and thereby permit its wideuse as a food ingredient. To support enzyme discovery, we are developing a robotics-assisted high-throughput screeningplatform to identify and compare fungal enzymatic activities. This approach integrates appliedmicrobiology, enzymology, robotics, and bioinformatics to accelerate the identification of candidateenzymes for industrial food processing. Our work contributes to the development of microbial-enzyme solutions for flavor optimization inplant-based proteins and is part of the REFINES project, funded by Plant2Food(https://projects.au.dk/plant2food/funded-projects/refines).