Mycofabrication of sustainable mycelium-based leather using Talaromyces sp. and irradiated eggplant peel waste

Agro-industry and leather manufacturing are considered two of the most polluting industries worldwide due to the huge amount of waste they produce that contributes to pollution. To address the challenges of food waste while contributing to sustainable leather production, this study explores the feasibility of developing an alternative, ecofriendly leather material. Talaormyces sp. was isolated from eggplant peel waste and was identified using phylogenetic ITS region (Genbank accession number: PQ007745); the closest relatedness was with Talaromyces atroroseus. Eggplant peel waste was exposed to electron beam irradiation at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 kGy. The results showed that exposure of eggplant peel waste to electron beam irradiation affected its rigidity, color, and tensile strength, where exposure to 15 kGy resulted in flexible material that showed tensile strength of 8 MPa, whereas non-irradiated sheets showed tensile strengths of 5 MPa. Modification and optimization of the cultivation media were performed using Full Factorial Design of Experiment. Sucrose (20, 40 g/L), calcium chloride (0.5, 1 M), and glycerol (10, 20%) were tested as 3 factors, two levels. The results showed that increasing the concentration of sucrose in the cultivation media from 20 to 40 g/L increased the mycelial network and induced exopolysaccharides, which act as the bio-binder in the mycelial-leather forming process. A post-treatment study was performed to ensure that there are no spores in the myco-product. These findings demonstrate that both fungal mycelium and eggplant waste-derived fungal sheets have great potential as ecofriendly materials with leather-like properties.