Vervenne, T.; St. Pierre, S. R.; Famaey, N.; Kuhl, E.

Fungi-based meat is emerging as a promising class of nutritious, sustainable, and minimally processed biomaterials with the potential to complement or replace traditional animal and plant-based meats. However, its mechanical and sensory properties remain largely unknown. Here we characterize the quasi-static and dynamic mechanical behavior of a novel fungi-based steak using multi-axial mechanical testing, rheology, and texture profile analysis. We find that the elastic response under quasi-static compression and shear is isotropic, while the viscous response under dynamic compression is markedly anisotropic, with stiffnesses and peak forces up to four times greater in the cross-plane than in the in-plane direction. Automated model discovery shows that the exponential Demiray model best captures this nonlinear stiffening upon chewing across both directions. These effects are rate-dependent and linked to fluid flow, supporting a poroelastic rather than a purely viscoelastic interpretation. Complementary sensory surveys reveal a strong correlation with mechanical metrics and suggest that we perceive fungi-based steak as more viscous, more moist, and more fibrous than traditional animal- and plant-based meats. Taken together, our findings position fungi-based steak as an attractive, structurally equivalent, and sensorially superior alternative protein source that is healthier for people and for the planet.