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FOOD SCIENCE
Futuristic fungi
With its superfood status and mycelium-made vegan leather goods, sustainable furniture and future habitats on Mars, it seems the humble mushroom is not so humble after all. A large number of scientists are now researching its applications – food scientist Nina Miklos explains
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n recent weeks Netflix has seen Fantastic Fungi – a lightly informative film prominently featuring perhaps the best-known mycologist in the world, Paul Stamets – added to its documentary section. Through animations of prehistory, vibrant time-lapses of growing mushrooms and interviews with other fungi enthusiasts, the functions of fungi that extend beyond simple, everyday kitchen use are explored. The film only scratches the surface, or rather undersurface, of the ways in which members of the fungi kingdom can be harnessed for sustainable purposes. Scientists have recently discovered and studied fossils that confirm a fungal presence in what’s now the Democratic Republic of Congo 800 million years ago, although others suggest fungi date back as early as 2.4 billion years ago. Surprisingly, they have been found to share more DNA with us, as opposed to plants, which we might expect. Mushrooms themselves are the fruiting bodies of fungal networks called mycelia, which are their extremely fine, root-like fibres that disperse far and wide underground. Mushrooms crop up for the fungal body to reproduce and form the particulate spores that are carried by the wind. The mycelia grow to source and satisfy the nutrient requirements of the fungus. They excrete enzymes to digest their food source, recycling soil nutrients and even storing atmospheric carbon in the process. Mushrooms are extremely nutritious, boasting richness in the B vitamins and therefore proving highly beneficial to our immune systems. Like humans, mushrooms possess the capacity to harness vitamin D from sunlight, making UV-exposed mushrooms the only significant source of this super-important micronutrient in the vegetable aisle. Just recently, Bristol was awarded Gold Sustainable Food City status, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that the city has roots in
Nebraska student Katy Ayers created a canoe using fibrous mushroom roots (photo courtesy of M.Ayres)
54 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
sustainable mushroom farming. Upcycled Mushrooms, a supplier of gourmet mushrooms to the city’s restaurants, actually creates value from local waste coffee grounds, using them as a substrate and source of growth for their oyster mushrooms. Owner Patrick Mallery has, however, also created a range of grow-your-own-athome kits that are perfectly safe and easy to use. It includes the UK’s first grow-kit for the mushroom species lion’s mane – considered to have medicinal benefits when consumed. These are extremely rare and legally protected in the wild. The Bristol Fungarium is another cultivator of a diverse range of high-quality mushrooms, supplying the three Better Food groceries and cafes dotted around the city. The fungi kingdom, most recently estimated to comprise 3.8 million species, is therefore deemed to be nature’s greatest decomposer. In fact, the ability to break down foreign substances is so potent, researchers have found numerous mushrooms capable of digesting plastic into organic matter. They are the perfect candidate for bioremediation [the use of living organisms in the removal of contaminants from natural environments] projects of the future. Mycofiltration is another example. Here mycelium is used in groundwater treatment as it has proven effective in extracting heavy metal contaminants. These particularly elegant and natural solutions for combating pollution, albeit slow by current industrial standards, have unfortunately attracted limited amounts of funding and attention; many mycologists believe the field has been long-neglected and largely overlooked. Mycelium-engineered replacements for plastics, wearable leathers, meat and beauty products are now widely available all over the world. The Magical Mushroom Company is the first UK partner of New York’s mycelium innovator Ecovative Design. Their Surreybased production plant specifically manufactures mushroom-based packaging, the likes of which is now used by companies such as Ikea
Ecovative and bioMASON mushroom furniture
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SEPTEMBER 2021
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