Valorizing Southeast Asian agricultural residues into high-performance mycelium-based biocomposites
The increasing generation of waste is a global challenge with particularly severe impacts in Southeast Asia, where agricultural and industrial lignocellulosic residues are often underutilized or inadequately managed. Major waste streams include sugarcane bagasse, Albizia chinensis woodchips, and cassava pulp. This study demonstrates that these abundant residues can be effectively valorized as feedstocks for the production of high-performance mycelium-based composite materials with an average density of approximately 365 kg/m3. Sugarcane bagasse and Albizia chinensis woodchips serve as effective base substrates supporting stable mycelial growth of Ganoderma lucidum, while cassava pulp functions as a nutrient-rich carbohydrate supplement that influences composite microstructure and mechanical performance. Albizia woodchip substrates supplemented with cassava pulp exhibited the highest compressive strength, reaching 0.63 MPa at 5% strain. These findings demonstrate that substrate composition plays a key role in determining the microstructure and mechanical performance of mycelium composites, providing a viable pathway for transforming underutilized lignocellulosic waste into functional bio-based materials.