HAIR CARE


Mycelium shielding for optimal hair protection


Kalie Arnott – Active Concepts LLC, US


COVID-19 has accelerated economic change, including a laser focus on sustainable practices. As consumer awareness evolves, environmental and traceability concerns spearhead new product development, not only in personal care, but also every societal facet. Many convenient technologies, such as plastic packaging, harm the environment, but nature can also offer solutions for versatile and biodegradable alternatives. In nature, mycelium is the final decomposer, working to make components available for reuse in the ecosystem; a true circle of life. Fungi are at the forefront of an


environmental and medicinal movement, making them essential for the future of the planet as well as health and innate immunity. Growing awareness of health boosting superfoods, especially in the midst of a global pandemic, has contributed to research in mycology, or the study of fungi. Consumers are typically familiar with mushrooms, due to their popularity throughout food and nutrition, yet only recently has the magic of mycelium taken centre stage. Harnessing this innovative potential, Lentinus Edodes (Shiitake) Mycelium Extract is the beginning of a mycelium expansion into personal care through the creation of a sustainable technology to shield and strengthen the hair. Mycelium, or the root structure of


mushrooms, co-exist in nature’s complex communities forming symbiotic relationships with various plants and ecosystems. Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a single-cell wide interwoven mass of thread- like hyphae. Fungi do not reproduce by seed or photosynthesize like plants. Instead, they reproduce by spores. These spores germinate to produce hyphae. Under the right conditions, the mycelium may send out a ‘bloom’, which is the visible fruiting body better known as a mushroom. A neurological network in nature, mycelium


depicts a ‘wood wide web’, establishing connections between plants for nutrient transfer and an increased defensive response.1 The world’s forests have evolved a collaborative intelligence with the mycelium that exists interwoven into the tips of its roots. At a cellular level, this creates an interface through which molecular transmission occurs.2


this mycelium network, experience increased disease resistance and habitat protection.3 expansive benefits of mycelium encourage its


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Plants utilising The


18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0


Untreated Shampoo & Conditioner Figure 1: MDA concentration and percent change.


use in mycorestoration projects to filter water, co-cultivate food crops, denature toxic wastes, and control insect populations. Ecological rehabilitation with mycelium is one of nature’s oldest methods to manage plant stress, disease, natural disasters, and organic decomposition. Human activity and intervention damages habitats, reduces biodiversity, and depletes natural resources.4,5


Current research, such as


applications conducted by Paul Stametes, a world-renowned mycologist, and Ecovative Design, a biotech company, are harnessing the power of mycelium for environmental, medicinal, and technological purposes. Mycelium is now forming an influential


network above ground, in architecture, agriculture, food, fashion, and medicine. The emergence of nature’s sustainable infrastructure, mycelium-harnessed technology is achieving scaffolding for skin substitutes and organ replacements, as well as environmental remediation, and alternatives to Styrofoam and plastics.6,7


From plant-based meats to reliable


building materials, mycelium could curb our reliance on plastics, fuel, and excessive energy use. Fungal fashion is one industry example incorporating the benefits of mycelium to reduce the carbon footprint and resources commonly associated with textile production. With minimal waste and energy cost, mycelium offers an answer to many sustainability concerns, including animal welfare.


Mycelium technology Mycelium is gaining momentum for advances in building materials, wound scaffolding, as


well as offering alternatives to packaging materials.6,7


Engineering advances utilise


mycelium components for adhesive properties as this vegetative fungus tissue naturally binds together different components such as wood, soil, and other loose particles.8


Mycelium


grows due to a symbiotic relationship with the materials that feed it, ultimately creating a network of branching fibres and hyphae. These networks extend for excessive lengths such as the mycelium network in the Oregon Blue Mountains that occupies 10km2


Lentinus Edodes Mycelium Extract Shampoo & Conditioner


80 30 -20 -70 -120


75


or enough


space to encompass more than 1,600 football fields. Estimated to be 2,400 years old, this thriving network is the largest organism on Earth, and continues to contribute to its established ecosystem.9 The diet of mycelium influences the


concentrations of polysaccharides, lipids, proteins, chitin, and enzymes present in the fibrous structures. As mycelium progresses through an environment, whether in nature or through a predetermined engineering design, enzymes are released to degrade food particles. Food for mycelium can include plant components to toxic waste and pollutants. As materials are degraded, mycelium physically bind together leftover particles creating stable forms and structures. This ability is transforming the creation of alternative building materials for wood, concrete, and plastic as well as bioremediation programs including preventing soil erosion. As mycelium spreads, the fungal hyphae physically bind soil particles together reducing erosion and offer a stable network.10,11 Polysaccharides contribute to the fungi’s


January 2021 PERSONAL CARE


MDA Concentration (nmol/µg)


% Change


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