MycoTechnology and Adorvia Pair Fungal Sweet Protein with Stevia for Lower-Sugar Foods
- Gauri Khanna
- Aug 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 12
MycoTechnology and Adorvia Biotechnology are collaborating to combine Zukora™, a sweet protein produced through fungal fermentation, with Adorvia’s Reb M stevia.
The two ingredients are designed to complement each other, helping formulators achieve a more sugar-like taste while reducing sugar and calories.
The partnership also gives Adorvia exclusive distribution rights for MycoTechnology’s ClearIQ™ Natural Flavor in China.
A Different Approach to Sugar Reduction
Reducing sugar without compromising taste remains a difficult formulation problem for food and beverage companies. High-intensity sweeteners can provide sweetness at very low concentrations, but some can introduce unwanted flavour characteristics or produce a sweetness profile that differs from sugar.
MycoTechnology is taking a different route with Zukora™, a sweet protein produced through fungal fermentation. Rather than positioning the ingredient as a replacement for stevia, the Colorado-based company is now working with Adorvia Biotechnology to combine the two technologies.
Adorvia is a separate company and a global stevia solutions provider. Its proprietary Reb M stevia provides high-intensity sweetness with a rapid onset, while MycoTechnology says Zukora delivers a smooth sweetness profile with minimal bitterness, metallic notes or lingering aftertaste.
The idea is to use the strengths of both ingredients to create a sweetener system that more closely resembles the taste and sweetness curve of sugar — while reducing added sugar and calories.
The companies announced a global commercial collaboration in July 2026, covering joint formulation and go-to-market activities. The agreement includes joint commercial activities in North America, while Adorvia becomes MycoTechnology’s exclusive distributor in China for ClearIQ™ Natural Flavor.
What Fungal Fermentation Brings to the Formula
Zukora is derived from the honey truffle, with MycoTechnology using its fungal fermentation expertise to produce the sweet protein at commercial scale. Sweet proteins are a relatively small but technically interesting category of high-intensity sweeteners. Unlike sugar, which is a carbohydrate, sweet proteins interact with taste receptors to generate sweetness at very low concentrations.
The challenge has historically been production. Extracting naturally occurring sweet proteins from their source plants is not necessarily practical at the volumes required for mainstream food production. Fermentation offers another route: microorganisms can be used as biological production systems to make specific compounds under controlled conditions.
MycoTechnology has built its business around this broader approach to fungal fermentation. Its existing ingredient portfolio includes ClearIQ and ClearHT, natural flavour products developed to improve taste and reduce undesirable notes in foods and beverages.
Zukora extends that fermentation platform into sweetness.
According to the company, Zukora is commercially available at scale in the United States and has Self-Affirmed GRAS status. MycoTechnology has also submitted a GRAS dossier to the US Food and Drug Administration, which assigned it GRN 1330.
The regulatory position is more important than the technology itself for a globally distributed food ingredient. The companies' latest announcement does not provide equivalent regulatory details for markets such as the European Union or United Kingdom.
Why Combine Zukora with Stevia?
The collaboration is based on complementarity rather than substitution. Adorvia’s Reb M provides the intensity of sweetness, while Zukora is intended to contribute a cleaner, more sugar-like sweetness profile. Combining them could allow formulators to adjust the proportions of each ingredient depending on the product and target taste.
This matters because sugar does more than make a product sweet. It contributes to the overall sensory experience, including how sweetness develops and fades in the mouth. Reproducing that experience with high-intensity sweeteners alone can be difficult.
The companies are testing the combination in food and beverage applications. At IFT FIRST in Chicago, MycoTechnology plans to showcase a 50% reduced-sugar lemon-lime slushie and a low-sugar chocolate cookie dough protein bar using the technologies.
The latter is designed not only around sweetness but also around flavour. The companies say the formulation is intended to enhance chocolate notes, reduce protein off-notes and improve the overall sweetness profile.
These prototypes point to a broader role for taste-modulation technologies: rather than simply replacing one ingredient with another, manufacturers can combine several ingredients to recreate some of the functions that sugar traditionally provides.
This approach to fungal fermentation for food ingredients is part of a broader wave of companies applying microbial and fungal biology to taste and texture challenges that conventional agriculture and chemistry have struggled to solve cleanly.
A Commercial Partnership Beyond Sweeteners
The agreement also extends beyond the Zukora-Reb M combination. Adorvia has been appointed MycoTechnology’s exclusive distributor in China for ClearIQ Natural Flavor, a multifunctional flavour modifier produced through mushroom mycelial fermentation.
ClearIQ is designed to improve the taste of better-for-you foods and beverages by addressing issues such as bitterness, protein off-notes, astringency and mouthfeel. For MycoTechnology, the partnership therefore combines two elements: a new route into natural sweetening through Zukora and expanded international distribution for an existing fermentation-derived flavour technology.
The commercial opportunity is significant, but the technology still faces the same test as other sugar-reduction systems: performance in real products at a cost that manufacturers can accept. The broader fermentation-derived ingredients sector has attracted sustained investor interest, but commercial scale-up remains the defining test. MycoTechnology has not disclosed production volumes or pricing for Zukora. The company says the ingredient is already commercially available at scale in the United States, but broader adoption will depend on formulation performance, regulatory approvals and the economics of replacing or reducing conventional sugar and sweetener systems.
Fungal fermentation is increasingly being used to produce food ingredients that would be difficult or expensive to obtain through conventional agriculture. Zukora is another example of how that platform is moving beyond alternative proteins and flavour modulation into a more established ingredient category.
The question now is less whether fungal biology can produce a sweet protein. It can. The more consequential question is whether combining that protein with established sweeteners such as Reb M can deliver the taste, cost and regulatory profile required for widespread adoption.
