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Mushrooms Everywhere
- phsnewspaper.com
- 33 minutes ago
- 2 min read
By: Isabella Pena
In recent years, incredible innovations and advances have been made across multiple fields of science and agriculture, all stemming from one group of organisms – fungi. Mushrooms and their roots, specifically, have started to gain increasing attention from researchers, being adapted from medicine to packaging in your mail.
Mushrooms that serve a medicinal purpose are ones such as Turkey Tail and Lion’s Mane. Turkey Tail has recently been getting more attention from biologists and doctors due to specific chemical compounds found inside it. These chemicals, so far, are predicted to strengthen your immune system against cancerous cells, which was previously unheard of. Lion’s Mane, on the other hand, has multiple but smaller benefits compared to defense against a disease like cancer. It is currently used and promoted as a mild solution to brain diseases known to usually worsen with age: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia.
Mycelium, the root of mushrooms, also has its fair share of uses. In Colombia, a researcher developed a way to “farm” the root of mushrooms after growing it on agricultural byproducts, such as hemp. After being mixed with wood shavings and wheat seeds, the finished product can act as both insulation for construction and an alternative to styrofoam. This is revolutionary for both the mailing and building industries, as usual insulation and styrofoam, a kind of polystyrene, do not even have the capacity to degrade biologically when thrown away in landfills. Unlike mycelium, which does so because it in itself is made of plant-like material.
But most interestingly, mushrooms have also been used to make alternatives to animal products, things such as pork and leather. There are a multitude of recipes using dehydrated mushrooms as a substitute for meat, for a product of vegan bacon and pancakes, as just one example. On the other hand, mushroom leather is being considered in both the clothing and auto industry, even by name brands such as Adidas, Stella McCartney, Lululemon, Cadillac, and Mercedes-Benz. Unlike real leather, the fungus alternative takes much less money and time to fully make. Yet, it still retains the same quality as the real leather it is replacing.
Mushrooms and their byproducts have made leaps and bounds of progress across many different industries as their potential is realized, proving that new possibilities for old materials exist, and that cheaper or natural doesn’t just mean worse quality.