Macrofungi are renowned for their rich nutritional and bioactive compounds. This study aimed to assess bioactive compounds, amino acids, and functional properties of flours produced through solid-state fermentation of bean and rice co-products with macrofungi. Three species (Pycnoporus sanguineus, Fistulina hepatica, and Laetiporus cincinnatus) were cultivated in humidified and sterilized broken ‘carioca’ beans or in a mixture of broken beans (70%), rice bran (20%) and broken rice (10%). Following fermentation, the colonized biomass was dried and milled into flour. The sample derived from broken beans cultivated with F. hepatica (102F) exhibited significantly higher β-glucans content (50.75 mg/g) of flour. All fermented flour samples showed elevated essential amino acid levels surpassing those reported in the literature for carioca beans. Phenolic compounds exhibited a notable increase, exceeding threefold in total phenolic content in the fermented samples. Sample 102F particularly excelled in antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Principal component analysis revealed that these properties were linked to the highest content of β-glucans and specific phenolic compounds, such as sinapic and ellagic acids. These findings indicate that solid-state fermentation effectively enhances the nutritional and bioactive profile of bean and rice co-products, with F. hepatica emerging as the most promising treatment for bean and the bean–rice mixture.
Frantz et al. (Tue,) studied this question.