Meati Foods has announced a partnership with AI company PIPA to accelerate understanding of mycelium’s health benefits.

Colorado-based Meati Foods makes whole-food plant-based meat cuts made from mycelium, also known as ‘mushroom root.’

The partnership with PIPA follows the formation of the Meati Science Advisory Board (MSAB) earlier this year, which includes experts in protein, health and nutrition from the University of California, Davis.

In addition to helping Meati better understand the health benefits of its current products across ranging consumer populations and segments, the company expects the partnerships with PIPA and MSAB to help it define opportunities for new products.

Justin Whiteley, Meati Foods’ co-founder and chief science officer, said: “When founding Meati and unpacking what it would take to achieve global-scale impact on our food system, the requirements were monumental: It had to be a delicious, whole-food solution plucked from nature, rapidly scalable and, critically, hyper-nutritious.”

He added: “AI is the perfect tool to help accelerate our understanding of exactly why including Meati products can improve the health of everyone at the family dinner table, and I can’t imagine pursuing this research without a world-class AI partner like PIPA”.

Meati is already known to offer complete protein (PDCAAS 1.0), and the other nutrients naturally present in Meati Products suggest potential for positive impact on heart health, digestion, the immune system and blood glucose levels, Meati said.

Eric Hamborg, chief commercial officer for PIPA said: “This research is in PIPA’s sweet spot of accelerating what’s possible at the intersection of food, nutrition and health”.

“We look forward to supporting Meati’s efforts to better understand how their unique star ingredient can benefit people’s health and improve nutrition now and in the future.”