Biodegradable Sheets from Dried Mycelia of Edible Mushrooms

Chairat Pattarasiripol; Wuttiwat Jitjak; Jesper T. N. Knijnenburg

doi:10.22146/jtbb.14001

Chairat Pattarasiripol Biodiversity and Environmental Management Division, Business Administration, Innovation and Applied Science Department, International College, Khon Kaen University, Muang, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand
Wuttiwat Jitjak Biodiversity and Environmental Management Division, Business Administration, Innovation and Applied Science Department, International College, Khon Kaen University, Muang, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand
Jesper T. N. Knijnenburg Biodiversity and Environmental Management Division, Business Administration, Innovation and Applied Science Department, International College, Khon Kaen University, Muang, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4382-5259

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jtbb.14001

Keywords: Alternative material, Agriculture and sustainable, Biodiversity, Local mushroom, Mycelium sheet, Reduce waste

Abstract

Due to its quick growth and biodegradability, mushroom mycelium has been used to create alternative materials. This study aimed to produce mycelium sheets from market-purchased edible mushrooms (Lentinus sp. and Pleurotus sp.). They were isolated and cultured in various liquid media. The production of four mycelium sheets was successful. After drying, the sheets of Pleurotus sp. using potato dextrose broth had the largest water contact angle. With a tensile strength, the sheet of Lentinus sp. using malt extract broth obtained the highest value. The dried mycelium sheet from Pleurotus sp. cultured on yeast extract broth had the greatest hardness value in the microhardness testing. After 7 days, the residual dry weight of the sheets in different conditions—soil burying, soil surface exposure, and water immersion—was less than 50% of the initial weight. This work has demonstrated the biodegradability of mycelium sheets.

References

Abdullahi, T. et al. 2018. West African kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus L.) natural fiber composite for application in automotive industry. Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, 14(4), pp.397–402. doi: 10.11113/mjfas.v14n4.1212

Appels, F.V.W. et al. 2018. Hydrophobin Gene Deletion and Environmental Growth Conditions Impact Mechanical Properties of Mycelium by Affecting the Density of the Material. Scientific Reports, 8, 4703. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23171-2

Appels, F.V.W. et al. 2019. Fabrication Factors Influencing Mechanical, Moisture- and Water-Related Properties of Mycelium-Based Composites. Materials & Design, 161, pp.64–71. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2018.11.027

Appels, F.V.W. et al. 2020. Fungal Mycelium Classified in Different Material Families Based on Glycerol Treatment. Communications Biology, 3(1), 334. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-1064-4

Bayer, I.S. et al. 2014. Direct Transformation of Edible Vegetable Waste into Bioplastics. Macromolecules, 47(15), pp.5135–5143. doi: 10.1021/ma5008557

Bond, A.L. et al. 2013. Ingestion of Plastic Marine Debris by Common and Thick-billed Murres in the Northwestern Atlantic from 1985 to 2012. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 77(1–2), pp.192–195. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.10.005

Bustillos, J. et al. 2020. Uncovering the Mechanical, Thermal, and Chemical Characteristics of Biodegradable Mushroom Leather with Intrinsic Antifungal and Antibacterial Properties. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 3(5), pp.3145–3156. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.0c00164

Elsacker, E. et al. 2019. Mechanical, Physical And Chemical Characterisation Of Mycelium-Based Composites with Different Types Of Lignocellulosic Substrates. PLoS One, 14(7), e0213954. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213954

Girometta, C. et al. 2019. Physico-Mechanical and Thermodynamic Properties of Mycelium-Based Biocomposites: A Review. Sustainability, 11(1), 281. doi: 10.3390/su11010281

Haneef, M. et al. 2017. Advanced Materials From Fungal Mycelium: Fabrication and Tuning of Physical Properties. Scientific Reports, 7, 41292. doi: 10.1038/srep41292

Ibrahim, H. et al. 2014. Characteristics of Starch-Based Biodegradable Composites Reinforced with Date Palm and Flax Fibers. Carbohydrate Polymers, 101, pp.11–19. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2013.08.051

Islam, M.R. et al. Morphology and Mechanics of Fungal Mycelium. Scientific Reports, 7, 13070. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-13295-2

Jones, M. et al. 2018. Waste‐derived Low‐Cost Mycelium Composite Construction Materials with Improved Fire Safety. Fire and Materials, 42(7), pp.816–825. doi: 10.1002/fam.2637

Lee, T., & Choi, J. 2021. Mycelium-composite Panels for Atmospheric Particulate Matter Adsorption. Results in Materials, 11, 100208. doi: 10.1016/j.rinma.2021.100208

Linn, K.S. et al. 2022. Development of Biodegradable Films with Antioxidant Activity Using Pectin Extracted from Cissampelos pareira Leaves. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 30(5), pp.2087–2098. doi: 10.1007/s10924-021-02340-x

Massa-Angkul, N. et al. 2020. Electrophoretic Deposition of Carbon Nanotubes onto Zinc Substrates for Electrode Applications. Sains Malaysiana, 49(11), 2811–2820. doi: 10.17576/jsm-2020-4911-20

Mostafa, N.A. et al. 2018. Production of Biodegradable Plastic from Agricultural Wastes. Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 11(4), pp.546–553. doi: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2015.04.008

Nawawi, W.M.F.B.W. et al. 2020. Nanomaterials Derived from Fungal Sources—Is It the New Hype? Biomacromolecules, 21(1), pp.30–55. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.9b01141

Nawawi, W.M.F.W. et al. 2019. Chitin Nanopaper from Mushroom Extract: Natural Composite of Nanofibers and Glucan from a Single Biobased Source. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7(7), pp.6492–6496. doi: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b00721

Ojha, S., Raghavendra, G. & Acharya, S.K. 2012. Fabrication and Study of Mechanical Properties of Orange Peel Reinforced Polymer Composite. Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(13), pp.190–194.

Ounkaew, A. et al. 2018. Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)/Starch Bioactive Packaging Film Enriched with Antioxidants from Spent Coffee Ground and Citric Acid. Journal of Polymers and the Environment, 26(9), 3762–3772. doi: 10.1007/s10924-018-1254-z

Raman, J. et al. 2022. Mycofabrication of Mycelium-Based Leather from Brown-Rot Fungi. Journal of Fungi, 8(3), 317. doi: 10.3390/jof8030317

Shen, S.C. et al. 2024. Robust myco-composites: a Biocomposite Platform for Versatile Hybrid-Living Materials. Materials Horizons, 11(7), pp.1689–1703. doi: 10.1039/d3mh01277h

Silverman, J., Cao, H. & Cobb, K. 2020. Development of Mushroom Mycelium Composites for Footwear Products. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 38(2), pp.119–133. doi: 10.1177/0887302x19890006

Vandelook, S. et al. 2021. Current State and Future Prospects of Pure Mycelium Materials. Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, 8(1), 20. doi: 10.1186/s40694-021-00128-1

Walter, N., & Gürsoy, B. 2022. A Study on the Sound Absorption Properties of Mycelium-Based Composites Cultivated on Waste Paper-Based Substrates. Biomimetics, 7(3), 100. doi: 10.3390/biomimetics7030100

Whabi, V. et al. 2024. From Nature to Design: Tailoring Pure Mycelial Materials for the Needs of Tomorrow. Journal of Fungi, 10(3), 183. doi: 10.3390/jof10030183

Wu, H. et al. 2022. On the Application of Vickers Micro Hardness Testing to Isotactic Polypropylene. Polymers, 14(9), 1804. doi: 10.3390/polym14091804

Zhu, C. et al. 2019. Plastic Debris in Marine Birds from an Island Located in the South China Sea. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 149, 110566. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.110566

Ziegler, A.R. et al. 2016. Evaluation of Physico-Mechanical Properties of Mycelium Reinforced Green Biocomposites Made from Cellulosic Fibers. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 32(6), pp.931–938. doi: 10.13031/aea.32.11830