{"id":1494,"date":"2020-11-18T18:01:37","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2020-11-18T18:01:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T18:01:45","slug":"mushroom-cultivation-produces-three-times-its-weight-in-waste-its-now-being-turned-into-burgers-and-fertiliser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1494\/mushroom-cultivation-produces-three-times-its-weight-in-waste-its-now-being-turned-into-burgers-and-fertiliser\/","title":{"rendered":"Mushroom cultivation produces three times its weight in waste. It\u2019s now being turned into burgers and fertiliser"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cultivating mushrooms produces a lot of waste. For every kilogram of mushrooms produced, about three kilograms of\u00a0soil-like material<\/a>\u00a0containing straw, manure and peat is left behind. In the EU, this results in\u00a0more than 3 billion kilograms of waste<\/a>\u00a0per year.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Managing this waste is a challenge. Although it is rich in organic matter, and therefore useful as compost, used mushroom substrate \u2013 the soil-like material \u2013 contains a lot of water, which makes it heavy and unprofitable to transport. Some of it is used as compost in agricultural land close by but the vast majority that remains ends up being stored temporarily then landfilled.<\/p>\n

\u2018Every year we have more and more waste,\u2019 said Pablo Martinez, project manager at the\u00a0Mushroom Technological Research Center of La Rioja<\/a>\u00a0in Spain. \u2018So, we need larger and larger areas just to manage this waste.\u2019<\/p>\n

More mushroom waste could soon be given a second life though thanks to new innovations. Dr Bart van der Burg, Director of Innovation at\u00a0BioDetection Systems<\/a>\u00a0in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and his team are interested in discarded mushroom parts, such as stems, and deformed mushrooms, which are part of the cultivation leftovers. They are aiming to extract components such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats and chitin \u2013 a fibrous substance \u2013 from them as part of the\u00a0Funguschain project<\/a>. Their goal is to incorporate these extracts into new products such as novel foods, cosmetics and bioplastics. \u2018I think we will end up with at least three products coming out of this project,\u2019 said Dr van der Burg.<\/p>\n

The team has been experimenting with different extraction techniques. After milling and grinding the mushrooms, they found that a technique using microwave radiation was effective for removing antioxidants, antimicrobials and organic compounds called polyols, for example, which could be used in food and bioplastics. A pressurised hot water tea-like technique was suitable for extracting other components such as proteins and polysaccharides \u2013 a type of carbohydrate \u2013 for use in food products.<\/p>\n

Food<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time, they have been developing new products with different companies. Extracted mushroom protein is being incorporated into food for older people with swallowing problems, for example, in the form of\u00a0solid, edible gels<\/a>. The protein is also of interest for vegetarian burgers where both the nutritional value and mushroom taste are desirable.<\/p>\n

Mushroom powders could also be incorporated in functional foods, another avenue they are investigating. However, these products will take longer to develop since potential health benefits need to be evaluated.<\/p>\n

In terms of cosmetics, the team is developing a natural line of creams that contain chitin, a preservative, extracted from mushrooms which acts as a natural preservative. Mushroom components tend to become brownish when they come into contact with oxygen, which would make creams an unappealing brown colour, but they\u2019ve managed to prevent a colour change. \u2018(Discolouration) depends on additional ingredients,\u2019 said Dr van der Burg.<\/p>\n

The team thinks mushroom waste could be reduced by up to 40% with the products they are creating. But they are also investigating other uses, such as composting and biogas production, which utilise all the soil-like leftovers from mushroom cultivation and could increase the amount of waste that is repurposed. These applications are more straightforward and would be easier to commercialise says Dr van der Burg. \u2018That\u2019s one reason why we are still investing in that part.\u2019<\/p>\n

Martinez and his team are developing a system to remove water from mushroom waste and turn it into pellets of organic fertiliser as part of their\u00a0SmartMushroom<\/a>\u00a0project. \u2018Once it\u2019s pelletised, we can deliver it anywhere for agricultural use,\u2019 said Martinez.<\/p>\n

Their goal is to develop an environmentally friendly process that doesn\u2019t use electricity or traditional sources of energy to power the drying. They are using some of the mushroom waste to produce biogas as a power source by optimising an existing production process that usually uses waste slurries from other agricultural processes.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Once it\u2019s pelletised, we can deliver it anywhere for agricultural use.\u2019<\/p>\n

Pablo Martinez, Mushroom Technological Research Center of La Rioja, Spain<\/p>\n

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Waste management<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the beginning of the project, a pilot plant was set up in an existing waste management facility. But their process can be set up wherever it\u2019s needed. It uses four containers and doesn\u2019t require building infrastructure. For the past year, the researchers have been perfecting the drying process by performing tests that experiment with different temperatures. If temperatures are too high, the waste can decompose, releasing nutrients that are important components of fertilisers.<\/p>\n

The team is currently trying to increase the amount of biogas produced by combining mushroom byproducts with other types of agricultural waste. For example, several companies nearby produce marmalade so they are reusing the water used to clean machinery which contains sugar and fruit residue. \u2018At this point, we are measuring the volume and quality of the gas produced by adding different co-substrates to our material,\u2019 said Martinez.<\/p>\n

The project is also trying to produce fertilisers that are tailored to different crops. Before the dried waste is pelletised, extra nutrients can be added. Vineyards, for example, require balanced levels of potassium, phosphorus and manganese so the fertiliser can be supplemented to match the exact amount required.<\/p>\n

Being able to produce organic pelletised fertiliser could have huge economic benefits for mushroom growers. At the moment, cultivators bear waste disposal costs\u00a0which range from \u20ac10 to \u20ac50 per tonne of spent mushroom substrate in Europe<\/a>. But in the future, they could make a profit by bringing their waste to a plant that will transform it into fertiliser and enable them to operate within a circular economy. \u2018They will get paid depending on how much they bring to waste management facilities,\u2019 said Martinez.<\/p>\n

Eventually, all the mushroom growing industry\u2019s soil-like residue could be turned into pelletised fertiliser once the technology is commercialised, says Martinez. So far, there is high demand for the fertiliser from farmers in Spain and their pilot plant can\u2019t produce enough to meet it. \u2018If we can pelletise all our production, we will sell all our production,\u2019 said Martinez. \u2018That means there will be no waste remaining from the mushroom cultivation sector.\u2019<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Published by Horizon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cultivating mushrooms produces a lot of waste. For every kilogram of mushrooms produced, about three kilograms of\u00a0soil-like material\u00a0containing straw, manure and peat is left behind. In the EU, this results in\u00a0more than 3 billion kilograms of waste\u00a0per year. Managing this waste is a challenge. Although it is rich in organic matter, and therefore useful as … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":318,"featured_media":1495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nMushroom cultivation produces three times its weight in waste. 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