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Time to make your mushrooms more healthy and valuable

Breaking News

Market launch of world´s first LED-Vitamin D-Booster

After 2 years of intense research and development in cooperation with the University of Hohenheim (Germany), LUXIDUM ventured a great step further into Vitamin D-Boosting Process Optimization.

Two-stage UV LED type combinations were tested on vitamin D synthesis rate and further photoproducts
(eg. lumisterol, tachysterol, toxisterol, suprasterol) in mushrooms. Based on these results we developed
a completely new and patented LED technology approach: LED2D® technology.

Our technology consists of two narrowband high performance UV LED with different center wavelengths switched in series (type B and type C) leading to a two-stage vitamin D synthesis process:
          stage 1 Priming of ergosterol, the precursor of vitamin D
          stage 2 Opitimized biosynthesis of vitamin D
→ Highest yield of vitamin D
→ Lowest yield of undesired photoproducts

All our Boosters and main components incl. light systems are manufactured exclusively in Germany!

Two-stage UV LED type combinations were tested on vitamin D synthesis rate and further photoproducts (eg. lumisterol, tachysterol, toxisterol, suprasterol) in mushrooms. B/C wavelength combination was found to be the most efficient regarding vitamin D synthesis combined with lowest yield of undesired photoproducts.

Luxidum developed a completely new and patented LED technology approach for the production of Vitamin D-Mushrooms in the world´s first LED-Vitamin D-Booster: LED2D® technology.

Next launch of a LED-Vitamin D-Booster

We are proud to announce that a further LED-Vitamin D-Booster with our patented LED2D® technology has been put into operation in a production line at a German mushroom production site!

New launch of a further LED-Vitamin D-Booster with Luxidum´s LED2D® technology, perfectly integrated in a ARCO Solution line

LED-Vitamin D-Booster with Luxidum´s LED2D® technology

Luxidum’s Customers

Vitamin D Mushrooms

Luxidum offers fully automated customised Vitamin D-Boosters for the production of Vitamin D Mushrooms – the most innovative step forward in fresh mushroom products.

In 2016 Monaghan Mushrooms was granted the first authorisation for UV-treated Vitamin D button mushrooms as a Novel Food.

Since then, Walsh Mushrooms and Banken Champignons applied for authorisation through a costly and time-consuming application process.

However, the Novel Food regulation amendment (EC) No 2015/2283 became valid on 1.1.2018. All foods mentioned in the Novel Food Union List can now be placed on the EU-market by every company without any further authorisation process!

Vitamin D Booster Machine

Vitamin D Deficiency

The Europeans’ average vitamin D intake is far below the recommended daily intake, mainly because there are so few food sources rich in vitamin D.

Vitamin D deficiency is a public health issue prevalent worldwide and is one of the key causes of osteoporosis and muscle weakness.

Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency is associated with:

  • cancer
  • cognitive impairment
  • cardiovascular diseases
  • autoimmune diseases
  • hypertension
  • infections

LUXIDUM restores the nutritive value of your mushrooms

Vitamin D Sources

Few foods are naturally rich in vitamin D. Good sources include fatty fish such as salmon and tuna.

However, all mushroom species contain ergosterol, and upon exposure to UV light from the sun or artificial light, this provitamin D is converted through a photochemical reaction to vitamin D.

That´s why wild mushrooms can contain high amounts of vitamin D due to sunlight exposure. On the other hand, the vitamin D content of cultivated button mushrooms is minimal (<0.2 μg/100 g), because they are cultivated indoors without the benefit of sunlight.

Mushroom wild grown
Mushroom indoor cultivated

Vitamin D Top Food Sources

(non-fortified) [1]

FOODVITAMIN D CONTENT
(μg/100 g)
INTAKE TO GET 100% OF RDI [2] (g)
LUXIDUM mushroom powderup to 40 000 [3]0.04
Salmon1694
LUXIDUM button mushrooms15 [4]100
Hen´s egg yolk5.6270
Mackerel4.0375
Hen´s egg2.9500
Chanterelle mushrooms2.1700
Butter1.21200
Button mushrooms0.27500

[1] modified, according to Souci/Fachmann/Kraut (2008)
[2] RDI = Recommended daily intake (15 ug/100 g)
[3] step-free adjustable content from 0 – 40 000 μg/100 g of powder
[4] step-free adjustable content from 0 – 30 μg/100 g of fresh weight

Vitamin D Mushroom products

One teaspoon of powder can meet your vitamin D needs for 3 months!

Package of mushrooms

Approved Claims by EFSA

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 sets the rules on the use of health or nutritional claims on foodstuffs based on scientific evidence. Health claims are any information on labels and advertising stating that health benefits can result from consuming Vitamin D-Mushrooms. The following claims have been approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) for Vitamin D-Mushrooms:

Nutrition Claims

  • High in vitamin D
  • Rich in vitamin D
  • Excellent source of vitamin D

Health Claims

  • Reinforces the body’s natural defences
  • Improves muscle strength
  • Important for healthy bones and bone strength
  • Enables normal bone formation
  • Important for good teeth mineralizationEssential for the absorption and utilisation of dietary calcium and phosphorus
  • Regulates cell division
  • Regulates the immune system
We offer Vitamin D-Boosters with different UV light technologies based on customer-specific requirements eg. pulsed UV light from Xenon or continuous UV light from mercury bulbs. Our aim is to offer stepfree adjustability of your mushrooms’ desired vitamin D content from 1 – 30 μg/100 g at the stage of end-customer sales together with very good reproducibility.
Picture of Synthese

Vitamin D synthesis takes place on the surface exposed to UV light only – no impact on any other nutrients than vitamin D!

Picture of Synthese

Technical Details

  • Post-harvest UV light treatment
  • Machine designs for whole mushrooms, slices and boxes with 4-6 punnets
  • Easy to use: switch on, and 5 sec later you can start boosting the value of your mushrooms
  • Safe for users: complete shielding from UV light via slalom-tracked punnet guide
  • Continuous UV light or pulsed UV light (Xenon, Polytec GmbH)
  • Reflector unit equipped with a shutter
  • Conveyor belt speed control
  • PLC control
  • Integral cooling system
  • Radiometric control
  • Durable construction
  • Stand-alone system easy to integrate into your processing line
Luxidum´s Vitamin D-Booster keeps your processing line moving and boosts the vitamin D content of your mushrooms to a predetermined level at very low production costs.

About Luxidum

Company Facts

  • Worldwide the first machine manufacturer and consultant company 100% dedicated to Vitamin D Mushrooms
  • Complete customised solutions for fresh mushrooms & mushroom powder from a single supplier
  • Your partner for obtaining EFSA approval for this Novel Food and further mushroom species (e.g. oyster mushrooms, shiitake)
  • Consulting service on health and nutrition claims

Will you be the next to place Vitamin D Mushrooms on the EU market? Please contact us!

About the Founder

  • Dr. Paul Urbain is a pioneer in the field of “Vitamin D Mushrooms” research. As a nutritional scientist, he was in 2011 the first to demonstrate in humans that the bioavailability of vitamin D from UV-treated and vitamin D-rich button mushrooms can effectively cure vitamin D deficiency [1].
  • Since 2011 he has held the utility patent for the use of Vitamin D Mushroom Powder in different food products and supplements.
  • He recently directed a subproject entitled: “Exploration of novel vitamin D-enriched mushrooms and powdered mushroom-containing food products for prevention of vitamin D deficiency; efficacy and safety” within the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (ODIN) [2-4].
  • The project partner Monaghan Mushrooms of Ireland got in 2016 the first authorisation of UV-treated and vitamin D-rich button mushrooms as a Novel Food.
  • In 2017, he submitted on behalf of a large producer of button mushrooms in Germany, an application for authorisation to put Vitamin D-Mushrooms on the EU market under the simplified notification procedure.
Paul Urbain