Medicinal mushrooms, e.g., Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers.), Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.), Chaga (Inonotus obliquus (Ach. ex Pers.) Pilát), Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Berk.) G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones and Spatafora), Shiitake (Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler), and Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd), are considered new-generation foods and are of growing interest to consumers. They are characterised by a high content of biologically active compounds, including (1,3)(1,6)-β-d-glucans, which are classified as dietary fibre, triterpenes, phenolic compounds, and sterols. Thanks to their low-fat content, they are a low-calorie product and are classified as a functional food. They have a beneficial effect on the organism through the improvement of its overall health and nutritional level. The biologically active constituents contained in medicinal mushrooms exhibit anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and immunomodulatory effects. In addition, these mushrooms accelerate metabolism, help fight obesity, and slow down the ageing processes thanks to their high antioxidant activity. The vast therapeutic properties of mushrooms are still not fully understood. Detailed mechanisms of the effects of medicinal mushrooms on the human organism still require long-term clinical studies to confirm their nutraceutical effects, their safety of use, and their dosage. Medicinal mushrooms have great potential to be used in the design of innovative functional foods. There is a need for further research on the possibility of incorporating mushrooms into food products to assess the interactions of their bioactive substances with ingredients in the food matrix. This review focuses on the properties of selected medicinal mushrooms and their effects on the human organism and presents current knowledge on the possibilities of their use in the production of functional foods.

Wheat flour is widely used on an industrial scale in baked goods, pasta, food concentrates, and confectionaries. Ash content and moisture can serve as important indicators of the wheat flour’s quality and use, but the routinely applied assessment methods are laborious. Partial least squares regression models, obtained using Raman spectra of flour samples and the results of reference gravimetric analysis, allow for fast and reliable determination of ash and moisture in wheat flour, with relative standard errors of prediction of the order of 2%. Analogous calibration models that enable quantification of carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen, and hence protein, in the analyzed flours, with relative standard errors of prediction equal to 0.1, 0.3, 3.3, and 1.4%, respectively, were built combining the results of elemental analysis and Raman spectra.

Hemp seed (Cannabis sativa L.) contain large amounts of nutrients, e.g. protein, dietary fiber, minerals, and unsaturated fatty acids, which make them a good fortifying component in food production. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of hemp addition on the physicochemical properties, cooking quality, texture parameters and sensory properties of durum wheat pasta. The samples were fortified with 5–40% of commercially available hemp flour or 2.5–10% of hemp cake obtained from hemp seed oil pressing. Our study showed that the addition of hemp seed raw materials led to an increase in the protein, total dietary fiber (TDF), ash and fat content in the pasta samples. Due to its lower granulation and higher nutritional value, hemp flour was found to be a better raw material for the fortification of pasta than hemp cake. Pasta enriched with hemp flour at the level of 30–40% contains 19.53–28.87% d.m. of protein and 17.02–21.49% d.m. of TDF and according to the EU, a definition can be described as a high-protein and high-fiber products. All enriched pasta samples were also characterized by safe Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) content, and their sensory properties were accepted by consumers.

In recent years, natural food colouring components have been sought. The conducted study presents the possibility of using different legume flours as a colouring component in durum wheat semolina pasta. The impact of legume flours addition on chemical composition, cooking quality, and sensory properties of pasta was also investigated. The pasta was fortified with 0–20% of green pea, red lentil, and grass pea flours and was made using lamination technology. An increase in the amount of the legume flour caused a significant increase in the content of dietary fibre, ash, protein, and essential amino acids, including lysine. The addition of the legume flours changed the colour of the pasta samples. Most suitable colouring component of all the studied legume flours was the red lentil flour. The pasta with 20% addition of red lentil flour had the most intense colouring (ΔE = 11.31), highest level of consumer acceptance and were characterized by acceptable cooking losses (7.47% d.m.), appropriate weight increase index (2.44), and high firmness.

Pasta production is a good opportunity for product innovation in different forms. The aim of this work was to assess the use of flaxseed components for pasta production. We examined the chemical composition and cooking quality, at different contents of flaxseed flour (FF) and flaxseed cake (FC), added for pasta processing. The analysis showed that the addition of flaxseed components to the dough caused a substantial difference in the International Commission on Illumination color model (CIE) parameter, compared to control samples. The samples of pasta with FF and FC were darker, redder, and less yellow than the control. The minimum cooking time for the enriched pasta was longer than that for the control pasta, although cooking losses were lower. The increasing content of flaxseed components did not significantly change the weight and volume increase index. The enrichment of pasta with 23% FF and 17% FC yielded good quality pasta. The results of the chemical composition of the flaxseed-enriched pasta indicate considerably enhanced nutritional quality, particularly the levels of protein, fat, and dietary fiber of the pasta, without affecting its quality. Moreover, flaxseed cake can be an important source of nutritional ingredients for pasta production, although it is a by-product of the oil cold pressing technology.