Reclaimed cellulose as alternative spawn for the production of mycelium insulating materials

Grain spawn is widely used for commercial production of mushrooms and mycelium bound composites (MBCs). However, the use of grain competes with the food and feed supply. Therefore, this study assessed the use of reclaimed cellulose (RC) to produce a blended or unblended solid or liquid spawn of Ganoderma resinaceum. Rapeseed straw was inoculated with these spawns or, as a control, millet grain (MG) spawn. Substrate colonization was quantified through gray value changes and modeled with the Gompertz equation. Data show that solid RC spawn performs best taking into account the rate and degree of colonization and the thermal performance, the Young's modulus, and the life cycle analysis of the resulting MBCs.