Biodegradable packaging material by using mushroom mycelium

Abstract

This research was carried out to prepare a prototype of biodegradable packaging materials that are eco- friendly and easy to degrade. Hence, it will substitute the existing packaging goods as polystyrene or plastic that become a threat to the earth. This research's raw materials were the spawn of oyster mushroom and agricultural residue of rice straw. There were four types of mold used: Can holder, bowl, desk vertex protection, and flat board using different drying processes as oven drying, and heat press drying to made the packaging tools. The result showed that heat press drying was best to make the biodegradable sheet packaging tools. As for biodegradable the sheet took 18 days to occur the degradation process as the sample was brittle, moist, and found decomposer fungal growth. It can be noted that the study was only a preliminary prototype model to prepare the packaging tools by using mushroom and rice straw; hence improvement and innovation are needed to produce a high-quality product.