REVIEW PAPER
37
AN ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY MUSHROOM LEATHER
V. LOGA SUBRAMANI B. Tech T.T.
A. A. RAYBAGI
Assistant Professor in Textiles
DKTE’S Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji Abstract A versatile material that has created outstanding attention among buyers of apparel, footwear, and furniture because of its flexibilit and durability properties. Excluding the features of leather, the steps are involved in its manufacturing having a huge impact on the surroundings. In contrast to the newest leather made from mushroom technology, the usual leather accounts for higher ecological footprints. The emergency of innovative fabrics formed from the mycelium of mushrooms is expected to have huge demand in the market in the upcoming generation. This context emphasizes the processing methods involved in designing mushroom leather, its advantages over animal leather, and its influence on the environment. Key Words: animal leather, environment friendly, leather, mushroom leather, sustainable, etc. Introduction Leather is a well-known material in the field of clothing, furniture, accessories, and footwear. On account of its longlasting, versatility, and good comfort it has a huge estimation in the market with a business value of US$ 100 billion per year. Traditionally the raw materials that take part in the processing are animal skins which make the leather industry depend on by-prod-
ucts of the dairy and meat industries. Subsequently, the leathers are tanned and processed under several conditions which release toxic chemicals that account for carbon emissions and playing a significant role in the greenhouse effect. The latest competitor has emerged in the market showcasing modern technologies by replacing the leather derived from animals with sustainable and environment-friendly leather. The innovative product that completely removes usage of chemicals, reduction in carbon emissions, on the other hand having the supremacy such as recyclable, flexible and can able to mimic the standard leather is simply awesome. In this article, the discussion is made on the process included in the production of alternate leather with its impact on surroundings and benefits over animal leather. 2. Implementation of an exceptional ingredient Labels such as sustainable, environment-friendly, renewable, and organic are well suited for the innovative class of textile “Mushroom Leather”. Apart from the application of fungi in medical science, edibles, and biofertilizers the compound multicellular organisms are utilized in making an eco-friendly product. Varieties of mushrooms exist in the environment having divergent properties in which some accounts for nourishment and another set of spe-
Figure 1: Network of white threads (Mycelium) (Source: Pixabay - https://pixabay.com/ photos/mushroom-mycelium-small-mushroom-3835397/)
cies used for the medicinal purpose [7] (Mitchell P, Tien, Chaitali, F, & John, 2017). In this case, mushrooms are primal matter in the processing of sustainable leather as they own the competency to grow mycelium underneath them. 3. Under grown network of hyphae Mycelium is the largest living structure on the globe occupies nearly 10
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