Citizen science lab in Villupuram unlocks fungi’s power

DW (English)

Near Puducherry, a citizen science lab uncovers the hidden powers of fungi — using local farm waste to produce food and crafting sustainable new materials.

Transcript

00:00Being close to the forest and the life within it is best done barefoot.

00:10We're at a workshop run by the Ecology Action Lab near Villuparam in Tamil Nadu.

00:15Everyone here is fascinated by mushrooms and eager to learn more, like 42-year-old Banu.

00:21In my grandmother's village, they had this tradition.

00:25Whenever she went to the fields, she would pick mushrooms, wash them and cook them with spices,

00:30along with whatever curry we were making that day.

00:33Now I've taught my children that drinking mushroom tea is good for you.

00:38Mushrooms are one of nature's wonders.

00:41They are neither plant nor animal, yet they are living beings.

00:46They've existed on our planet for over a billion years.

00:49There are thought to be several million species.

00:52Poisonous ones, beautiful ones, tasty ones and very tiny ones.

00:57Yet few people know the difference between fungi and mushrooms.

01:03Fungi is the full system.

01:05So you can think of an apple tree for example, right?

01:08Fungi would be the full apple tree and the apple is the mushroom, right?

01:13And the spores and the seeds.

01:15Here, in the theory part of the workshop, Miladin Hollander also shares her research.

01:22She's been studying mushrooms in India for several years.

01:25So far, around 14,400 fungus species have been documented in India.

01:31What fascinates the ecologist most is how mushrooms interact with the entire ecosystem.

01:37They can form these mycorrhizal relationships with trees.

01:42So they're mutually benefiting each other.

01:44Where the tree gives the food from photosynthesis to the fungi

01:50and the fungi gets the nutrients and water for the tree itself.

01:54And in the forest, mushrooms perform real miracles.

01:58They break down dead plants and trees, turning them into precious humus.

02:03In this way, they provide new life in the forest with vital nutrients.

02:10The path that we call mushroom is just the fruiting body.

02:14The actual fungus lives in the soil, invisible to us.

02:18The true master of decomposition is the mycelium,

02:22the large fine root network beneath the fruiting body.

02:26Scientists now know that mycelium can do more than just decompose dead wood.

02:33Fungi can break down plastic waste, oil residues, even radioactive material.

02:39Studies around small dyeing factories have shown that contaminated soils

02:44can also recover with the help of fungi.

02:47Another interesting thing is that dyes from dyeing factories contain very strong chemicals, like phenols.

03:01These are difficult to break down.

03:03But fungi, like Aspergillus niger, can break these compounds down and turn them into harmless substances, according to our research.

03:18Nadia Akkadurak has always been fascinated by the powers of fungi.

03:22As a social entrepreneur, she co-founded the Ecology Action Lab in 2022.

03:29We started to understand that in addressing, like in understanding fungi and the full ecosystem around fungi,

03:36we can address problems, whether they be environmental, social or individual.

03:42And what is important to us, we take a very grassroots approach to academic knowledge.

03:49The Ecology Action Lab is also a citizen science lab.

03:54Ishan has been volunteering here for some time.

03:58In the lab, amateur mycologists cultivate the mycelium in petri dishes.

04:03Then it's transferred to straw bales, where it can continue to grow.

04:08The straw comes from harvest left over from local farmers.

04:11We add the already colonized mycelium into this sort of jute bags,

04:17and we take it to the forest for the process of, which is called mycoremediation,

04:21where we are introducing more mycelium in a certain ecosystem,

04:26for basically helping the ecosystem to thrive more, and also for the mycelium to grow in the same process.

04:32It's a thing which is used widely for bringing back ecosystems which are sort of deteriorating,

04:39and giving a catalyst to the already existing beings in that ecosystem to have some more opportunity to grow faster.

04:49Mushrooms are also big business.

04:51Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike have discovered them as an excellent meat substitute.

04:56They are a great source of protein, and they are low in calories and fat.

05:00In 2023, around 50 million tons of mushrooms were harvested worldwide.

05:09Mushrooms can also be used as packaging or even building material thanks to their unique texture.

05:16These alternatives are environmentally friendly and biodegradable, unlike concrete or plastic.

05:21But people still know very little about the huge potential of mushrooms.

05:26That's why the workshops attract so many curious people.

05:30Since we, in school and college, we didn't get that kind of like information,

05:34it's kind of becoming very important to understand, not just conserve ecology,

05:39but find the right balance between human and nature.

05:42The workshop has come to an end, and Banu prepares a mushroom tea.

05:48Over these days, she's learned how versatile fungi can be.

05:52As soil renovators, meat substitutes, even building materials.

05:56Fungi may well be a big part of our future.

05:59Fungi may well be a they…?

06:01Fungi may well be a unsure söm, and a big part of our future.

06:04Have a wonderful workout!

06:11.

06:21.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended