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Swiss research uses mushrooms to improve wood properties

Published: 2024-12-22 Author: mysheen
Last Updated: 2024/12/22, Switzerland's Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research said Tuesday it is experimenting with mushrooms to improve certain properties of fir and spruce trees in order to expand the use of these woods. Fir and spruce, which account for 60% of Swiss trees, have the advantages of mechanical endurance and ease of processing, but also have weaknesses such as difficulty in fine processing and difficulty in long-term use. In addition, protective coatings such as fire, anti-corrosion or anti-ultraviolet coatings are difficult to penetrate into these woods, thus limiting their development and utilization, such as for building exterior materials. Researchers experimented with wood-eating mushrooms to change

The Swiss Federal Materials Test and Research Laboratory said on the 27th that it is experimenting with mushrooms to improve some properties of fir and spruce in order to expand the use of these wood.

Abies and spruce account for 60% of Swiss trees and have the advantages of strong mechanical endurance and easy processing, but they also have weaknesses such as difficulty in fine processing and long-term use. In addition, protective coatings such as fireproof, anticorrosive or anti-ultraviolet coatings are difficult to infiltrate the wood, thus limiting their development and utilization, such as not being used as building exterior materials.

The researchers experimented with wood-eating mushrooms to change this situation, because some parasitic wood-eating mushrooms eat specific ingredients in wood without destroying their strength. They carried out biotechnology research in the laboratory, explored the cultivation time, temperature and specific varieties of mushrooms, and achieved good preliminary results, and the permeability of water-soluble paint of wood modified by wood-eating mushrooms was increased by 8 times.

 
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