Mushroom leather may finally be ready for mass production
Plastic-free, ethical leather alternatives that perform like the real thing are hard to make. Researchers may have cracked the code to produce such materials on large scale.
Researchers in Finland have made significant progress in developing mass-produced mushroom leather alternatives. Led by Géza Szilvay, an industrial biotechnologist and food scientist at VTT Finland, the team has created a sustainable leather-like fabric using mycelium - the soft, white fibers that form the root-like structure of fungi.
This innovative process takes advantage of renewable feedstocks and mild conditions, eliminating the need for livestock or chemically intensive methods. Unlike synthetic leathers made from fossil fuel-based plastics, fungal-based leather offers a carbon-neutral option that biodegrades fully at the end of its life.
To create the fabric, the researchers first cultivate mycelium in a nutrient-rich liquid within a bioreactor, producing a wet pulp. They then wash and mix the pulp with sorbitol and cellulose, enhancing its softness and strength. The mixture is spread into thin sheets and dried to form a flexible, durable material that resembles traditional leather.
The team achieved impressive results, producing up to 1 meter of the material per minute using a roll-to-roll process. This method allows for greater flexibility in formulations, enabling the adjustment of the fabric's properties to match those of animal leather. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of tear strength and abrasion resistance.
Despite these challenges, the researchers are optimistic about the potential of fungal-based leather as a viable alternative to non-renewable synthetic leathers. The development of mycelium-based materials represents a new direction in biotechnology, offering a vast array of possibilities beyond conventional chemical building blocks, bioplastics, and proteins.
Written by urgent.news from Anthropocene Magazine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
