Pekilo, a protein made by fermenting a fungus on food and agricultural sidestreams, has reached its first consumer product in Europe: Levendo, a semi-moist baked biscuit for adult and senior dogs from the Dutch pet food company HenArt, reports Anay Mridul for Green Queen.
Pekilo is named after the fungus Paecilomyces, one of more than 300 fungi screened in Finland between 1975 and 1991 for making protein for animal feed from forest industry by-products. Enifer, a spin-out of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, revived the process in 2020 using continuous submerged fermentation, similar to brewing soy sauce. The mycelium is dewatered, dried and milled into a powder.
The pet grade, PekiloPet, has more than 60% protein and 22% fibre, with ash below 8%, which allows high inclusion in pet food. In a 60-day feeding trial with 16 dogs, the company reports, it showed high digestibility and palatability and no negative effect on stool quality. Enifer is also tailoring Pekilo for aquaculture feed and human food.
HenArt built Levendo to the complete-diet guidelines of the European pet food body FEDIAF, combining 11.5% mycoprotein with pea and potato proteins, hydrolysed yeast and algae oil. "Pekilo was a key part of making that possible," said founder Henk Verhoeven. The biscuit is sold through HenArt's online store and distributors across Europe and the UK.
Enifer runs a pilot line producing 5 to 10 kilograms of Pekilo a day and is commissioning a EUR 33 million plant at Kirkkonummi, Finland, designed to make 3,000 tonnes a year, with full production planned for 2027. It has notified the US Food and Drug Administration of its own GRAS determination for human food and applied for novel food approval in the EU, Singapore and the UK.
"Levendo is an important next step: it shows that Pekilo performs in formulation and production," said Enifer CEO Simo Ellila. The company has raised about EUR 49 million and is working on a Series C round expected to close by the end of the year.
Source: Green Queen
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