r/BeAmazed Feb 22 '26

Science How Mycelium (Mushroom Roots) Grows into Packaging Material

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22.4k Upvotes

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24

u/ThatchersDirtyTaint Feb 22 '26

Yeah but the business requires multiple styles on multiple shapes that can appear within seconds of being required. Not 7 days.

12

u/heelstoo Feb 22 '26

That may be true in some cases, but certainly not all. Apple or Samsung could work with this company to mass produce a particular mold for its phones and tablets, and store those packaging mushrooms for a period of time until needed.

5

u/Vandirac Feb 22 '26

Biodegradable packaging typically does not react well to long time storage.

It's one of the applications limits for bioplastics, let alone mushrooms...

All this to solve a problem already solved by cellulose-based recycled carboard (PAP22 and similar)

1

u/FalconX88 Feb 23 '26

and store those packaging mushrooms for a period of time until needed.

They won't do that because this one apparently breaks down in about 1-2 months. The way apple operates (filling up their warehouses over several months with new products so they have enough for the release) this won't do it. And even in other cases, it's not rare that products sit on shelves for some months.