Results of the first experiments making mycelium leather

Biomaterials Mycelium
#1

Hi,

My first experiments were a little disappointing because there was quit a lot of contamination and a very slow growth. I also tried different environments like dry storage at 25° and a more moist environment at 28° but the differences in growth was negligible.

For my experiments i tried to follow @Elise method but i was not able to get all the right ingredients so I tried to wing it.

Batch 1:
I made a liquid medium with 1L destilled water, 10g sugar and 5g yeast extract and 3g of agar

These are the results of 2 weeks of growing.

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As you can see, it grew a bit but was very thin and contaminated.

Batch 2:
Here I made the same liquid medium except i left out the agar

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So yeah that wasn’t very successful.

I kinda expected these results because i didn’t have any protein in there which was very hard to find in a pure form.

What did I learn: inoculating the substrate on a higher temperature will give me a better chance of fighting contamination and I should find a better alternative for the necessary protein to pepton because I couldn’t get it. For my next batches I will also incorporate some jute fibers.

1 Like
#2

Hi @Gertjan how did you ensure the air sterility around your work? With a bunsen burner?

#3

@winnieponcelet yes and large tile cleaned with alcohol as work surface

#4

Hm, it might not have been enough. There was perhaps an air flow (open window, people passing by) to disrupt the sterility. Or your containers were contaminated (alcohol leaves spores alive)

#5

There was a class that had an assignment that involved working with clay and mixing gypsum. Normally those tasks shouldn’t be done in the ‘clean room’ but it was the only available space at the time. I waited a few hours til the dust settled but people passing by didn’t help either:sweat_smile:

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#6

That’s likely to be the cause. Even when it settles, the dust is still in the room and will easily be swept up by your movements or those of others. Ideally you’d clean the room fully after some dirty work has happened. Or even better: don’t do dusty things at all in the same room as where you’re working sterile.

#7

I have heard that running a steamy hot shower will cause all the dust particles to drop from the air. This was suggested for putting protective covers on cell phones. To reduce the chance of dust getting between the layers.

Maybe I will work in the bathroom.

#8

What about heating the entire work table. The updraft would cover a much larger area than the flame. I just don’t know how hot it would have to be.

I have access to a thermal camera any idea how to tell if the convection currents are large enough?

Maybe leave open petri dishes out for a few minutes and see if they grow anything?

#9

did you try again? from where did you get your recipe? what type of mushroom mycelium did you attempt to grow?