3D Printing of Mushroom Mycelium

21 Nov 2025

Natural resources are currently becoming increasingly interesting in the context of additive manufacturing. For filament printing or the 3D printing of pasty materials, scientists are relying on biopolymers that, in combination with other materials, enable the additive construction of molded and designed parts. In addition to corn starch for the production of polylactic acid (PLA) or pectin from citrus fruit peels, mushroom mycelium is also increasingly becoming a focus of researchers. The mycelium of the mold Aspergillus niger for example, which is a byproduct of many biotechnological processes, contains up to 25 percent chitin. Chitin is a biopolymer found particularly in the shells of insects and crab shells, but also in the cell walls of fungi.

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