Mycelium based Products

4 min readJan 7, 2021

Ecovative Design is now a pioneer in mycelium-based design, using unconventional materials to create objects such as packaging. One of their latest creations is the MycoComposite, a mushroom-based packaging material developed in 2010 by the company’s mycellium technology. It could be the first of a series of new fungal materials that have become popular in recent years. Sources: 2, 4, 9

It is biodegradable and compostable at home, is broken down in the soil within 45 days and is made from a combination of mycelium and organic materials such as grass, leaves, fruit and vegetables. By cultivating on agricultural materials, mycelium binds them together to create a material that makes them more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional polystyrene. It is therefore an ideal material for use in a wide range of agricultural and industrial applications. One of the most common uses for my Celium-based materials compared to polystyrene is their use as packaging material. Sources: 6, 11, 14, 16

Although consumers are familiar with fungi, research into fungi and mycology is relatively small compared to other bio-based materials such as polystyrene. Currently, a growing community of environmentally conscious users is analyzing the effects of mycelium on the underground — the cultivation of fungi and their fruit bodies. In this study we investigated the influence of a particle composition based on mycelium on a composition of fungal mycelium. As Food Tank has told us, my work is exploring the potential of my cell composites to force the reins of biodegradable agricultural waste by containing the biocomponents of biofuels and other non-bioplastics in a variety of agricultural and industrial applications. Sources: 0, 1, 3, 13

The primary part of Ecovative, however, focuses on the use of pure mycelium material, and this example shows the success of the growth of shoe soles with mycelium and is an excellent example of how my cell composites are used in shoe development. Mycelia-based bioplastics are biodegradable, so fashion products made from these materials can be composted and not landfill. They can also be developed from non-biocompatible materials such as polystyrene, polyethylene or polypropylene, and they are developed for the production of biofuels, bioplastics and other bioplastics. Sources: 1, 12, 13

If you are a mycelium material supplier and offer a course on the use, please let me know and I can grow some for you. The first start-up to come up with the idea using mushrooms was New Yawk — based on Ecovative, which was featured in an article on recyclable building materials. The concept of GIY goes beyond promoting community engagement in the use of mycelia by encouraging people to grow their own projects and products using safe fungal materials and practices. Sources: 0, 5, 15

During the growth process, the fungus develops hyphae, which form a network of interconnected mycelium between different materials and connect them to self-supporting mycelium compounds. The vegetative My Celium colonizes organic substrates by using product decay as a food to stretch its hyphales to the tips, branch off new hyphens and fuse into denser networks. Fungal and agricultural waste packaging materials resemble styrofoam and can be used for packaging everything from computers to candles. Mycelium packaging is made from organic waste, which is then purified and combined with mycorrhizal material, in which the cell grows into a material — sending out roots and fibers that digest the material. Sources: 8, 10, 17, 18

Properties of mycelium material have also proved to be related to the substrate digested by fungi. The abundance of available substrates can vary from region to region, as can the number of different fungal species in the environment. Sources: 18

Ecovative Design is a biotechnology company that focuses on a process known as bioproduction, which involves making materials from fungi (usually referred to as “fungi”) and building materials from fungi known for their mycelium. While the use of mushrooms, which usually refer to mushrooms, goes hand in hand and many factories produce mycellium, including ecovatives, this is not always the case. This can be avoided if the product lacks certain properties, such as the ability of the fungus to self-produce or the presence of a particular chemical compound. Sources: 4, 7, 13

Mycelium composites are biodegradable and their starting material is natural and renewable. If raw material and growth process are natural, the mycellium composite material can be completely biodegraded. Sources: 1

The fibrous mycelium material investigated in this work may be a realistic alternative to petroleum-based plastics 50, which have additional properties for the production of biopolymers. Bayer also believes that mycelium can play an important role in building materials that are insulating and structural and can also be used in the production of biodegradable materials such as glass, steel, ceramics and other materials. There is a significant difference between biocompatible and petroleum-based plastics, which are considered self-growing and bioplastic due to their ability to be produced by microorganisms. It can even be created by adding furniture that can be easily recycled at the end of its life. Sources: 6, 11, 17,19

Although fungal packaging is made from biological materials such as mycelium, the process of manufacturing the packaging differs from most standard manufacturing processes. Packaging can be embedded with a range of different materials such as polymers, polyethylene and even a Zelium-based composite, which makes sense from both a technical and an ecological point of view. Sources: 4, 8

Mycelium based Products

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Written by Pritesh Mistry

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