Characterization of pure mycelium materials from different mushroom-forming fungi

Pure mycelium materials (PMMs) are a sustainable alternative for a range of non-sustainable products such as textile, leather and meat. So far, properties of PMMs of different fungi have not been systematically assessed. Here, 11 mushroom-forming fungi, of which 10 isolated from nature, were grown in liquid shaken cultures. Schizophyllum commune, Ganoderma resinaceum, and Trametes betulina produced the highest biomass (8.62, 7.58, and 6.94 g L^-1, respectively) when grown as mono-cultures in malt extract broth. Therefore, PMM properties were determined of mono-cultures, mixed-cultures, and co-cultures of these three fungi. The maximum tensile strength of the PMMs of the mono-cultures, mixed-cultures, and co-cultures of S. commune, G. resinaceum, and T. betulina did not show significant differences and ranged between 4.5 to 6.3 MPa. The elongation at break of the different PMMs was generally low and ranged between 0.8 and 1.6%. The Young's modulus of the PMMs also showed relatively small differences ranging between 408 and 710 MPa. The G. resinaceum PMMs showed the lowest water uptake, while the S. commune mono-, mixed- and co-culture PMMs showed the highest water contact angle. Together, it is concluded that the properties of the mono-, mixed-, and co-cultures of S. commune, G. resinaceum, and T. betulina are not very different. These data suggest that the species of mushroom forming fungi does not have a major impact on PMM properties of biomass from liquid shaken cultures.