Presumably it is still early days for modern agricultural fungus selection. I heard a story that thousands of years ago, corn had six kernels per cobb(might have been seven). Few generations of selective breeding and you produce monstrous varieties.

Presumably we could do the same thing with fungus if we saw the economic/moral/sustainability incentives.

Edit: an article about ancient corn (https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2023/01/24/uf-researchers-di...)

  Teosinte is a small, grass-like plant that forms ears of six to eight kernels. Each kernel is encased in an acorn-like shell. These encased kernels grow on a thin stem, not the thick cob that characterizes modern corn. The whole ear is about two inches long, the kernels no larger than peppercorns.

  About 10,000 years ago, the Indigenous peoples of what is now southern Mexico began selectively breeding teosinte. Over time, those acorn-like coverings retracted and formed a cob. Now exposed, the kernels were easier to harvest and could be bred for increased number and size, Koch said.

That's true, but because mushrooms are so wet (~90% water), if you look at the numbers for dehydrated mushrooms vs meat, mushrooms start looking a lot better.

I think dry mushrooms are about 30% protein by weight, which is in the ballpark of dry meat.

Semi related, I recommend roasting then dehydrating and blending mushrooms if you can. Mushroom powder like this is an incredible addition to many things, though my kids will eat it on its own regardless. A massive pile of mushrooms will become a tiny jar of powder.

And less related, lacto ferment them. They're then outrageously good fried.

However, if you compare the energy and resource inputs to produce that 2-3g the picture starts looking a LOT more competitive. Not to mention a very attractive nutrient profile and potential medicinal benefits (eg a lot of bioactive tryptophan metabolites).

That's the "before" picture. Let's see what these scientists can get to with the "after" picture. If they can get it up to 50g/100g, I know what I'm eating.

There's way more water in mushrooms too. 90+% may simply be water.