By: Iwan Saskiawan*
PROGRAM FREE nutrition (MBG) which is the priority of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming government will target 82.9 million recipients over the next five years.
Head of the National Nutrition Agency Dadan Hindayana said, the MBG program was one of the investments in Indonesian Human Resources (HR).
The implementation of this program certainly requires a source of local food that is of nutritional value, easy to obtain, and cheap considering the available funds are very limited.
One of the food ingredients that contain complete nutrients and meet the requirements for its procurement is food mushrooms.
Food Mushrooms (Edible Mushroom) is one source of food that has been known to the community since the Middle Ages.
At present, many food mushrooms are cultivated in Indonesia by using sawdust or agricultural waste as a planting medium (Saskiawan, et al. 2016).
In Indonesia there are several types of food mushrooms that are commonly consumed by the public, including white oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus OstReatus), mushrooms (Volvariela Volvacea), Ear mushrooms (Auricularia sp.), button mushrooms (Agaricus sp.), and Shitake Mushrooms (Lentinula Edudes).
The five types of mushrooms can already be cultivated in Indonesia easily. In addition, there are several types of mushrooms imported from other countries because economically cannot be cultivated in Indonesia such as Enoki Mushrooms (Flamulina Velutipes).
In addition to its high taste and nutritional value, food mushrooms are also known to produce bioactive compounds that act as immunomodulators for our bodies ((Yang et al. 2009 and Zhang et al. 2011).
Some types of mushrooms used as drug raw materials are lingzhi mushrooms (Ganoderma Lucidum) and fungus Cordyceps.
Quantitatively, the protein content in food mushrooms is indeed much lower compared to beef, which is 3.92 grams per 100 grams in food mushrooms and 20.47 grams in beef.
However, food mushrooms are suitable for use as a substitute for animal protein. Protein in food fungus contains all nine essential amino acids (Esssential amino acids, EAAS), things that are not found in almost all types of vegetable protein.
Furthermore, food mushrooms also have high branch chain amino acids (high branced-chain amino acid, BCAA) which are usually only found in animal protein.
Protein in food fungus is almost the same as the protein in meat. According to WHO/FAO, from several protein characters such as the digestibility of protein in vitro (in vitro protein digestibility, IVPD), the digestibility of protein based on amino acid scores (protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score, PDCAas), essential amino acids (essential amino acid index, eaai) and protein efficiency ratio (protein efficiency ratios, per) in food fungus equivalent to those found in ovalbumin (protein in egg white) and far outperformed protein in soybeans and wheat.
