Steam Explosion: A Booster for Fungal Growth in a Myco-composite

Abstract

A myco-composite is a sustainable material formed by combining mycelium with a lignocellulosic substrate; these components are binding together to create a light and eco-friendly alternative to traditional materials. In this paper, steam explosion (SE) was experimented as a pretreatment to promote the growth of Trametes versicolor on beech wood. An optimal fungal growth was observed for an SE treatment severity (log R 0 ) ≤ 3.96. Characterization and quantification of mycelium density and heterogeneity in the myco-composite were carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen measurement, and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with multivariate analysis. The combination of these techniques was shown to be relevant for quantifying the fungal density in the material in relation with the growing matrix used. These results pave the way for a multicriterion optimization of the fungal/matrix choices to obtain mycocomposites with specific properties.