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Accepted manuscript

High-Compression Mycofabrication (HCM) Method Shows Pleurotus ostreatus Outperforms Ganoderma lucidum in Compressive Stress

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2026

C. Cogdell Open the ORCID record for C. Cogdell [Opens in a new window] ,
V. Kulkarni ,
C.M. Venzon  and
V. La Saponara
C. Cogdell*
Affiliation:
Department of Design, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
V. Kulkarni
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
C.M. Venzon
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
V. La Saponara*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
*
*Authors for correspondence. Emails: cgcogdell@ucdavis.edu, vlasaponara@ucdavis.edu
*Authors for correspondence. Emails: cgcogdell@ucdavis.edu, vlasaponara@ucdavis.edu
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Abstract

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Most research on mycelium-based composites (MBC) focuses on the growth and properties of pure mycelium materials (PMM), engineered living materials (ELM), and biofoams. Using the basic method patented by Chris Maurer and team for MycoHAB, which we call high-compression mycofabrication (HCM), we turn spent mushroom substrate into mycobricks to understand and improve their material properties towards structural building. Compressive tests of HCM coupons of Ganoderma lucidum (reishi) fabricated at 20-tons and Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster) fabricated at 20-tons and 30-tons of force reveal that oyster outperforms reishi in compressive stress, reversing what is commonly known about these species when tested as biofoams or PMMs. Whereas Maurer has achieved 26 MPa with reishi, our median for oyster at 20-tons is 34.95 MPa and at 30-tons is 46.1 MPa measured at ∼70% deformation levels, comparable to values accepted for medium and high strength concrete (but at much lower deformations). Furthermore, for oyster HCM it appears that higher compression during fabrication produces higher compressive stress results during testing, even possibly strain hardening behavior.

Keywords

mycelium-based compositehigh-compression mycofabrication (HCM)mycobrickcompressive stresscircular bioeconomy

Information

Type
Full Paper: Biodesign Conference
Information
Biotechnology Design , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 31
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press