Abstract
Food insecurity, environmental degradation, and climate change are among the persistent global challenges facing humanity, and fungi offer unique and underexplored opportunities to address them. Resilient food sources, animal feed, biochemicals, biofuels, textiles, and raw materials for the automotive, construction, and transportation sectors are among the many valuable products that these adaptable organisms can effectively derive from organic materials. Their exceptional metabolic diversity and adaptability make them excellent candidates for industrial applications. The global transition from a petroleum-based economy to a sustainable, bio-based circular economy is being accelerated by advances in fungal biotechnology. Fungal systems contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution by enabling the production of eco-friendly alternatives and promoting efficient resource utilisation. Additionally, by stabilising agricultural systems and enhancing nutrient availability for a growing global population, fungi offer promising strategies to improve food security. Developments in fungal biotechnology, along with the rational design and optimisation of both existing and novel fungal cell factories, hold significant potential to mitigate the effects of climate change. These initiatives are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to responsible consumption, climate action, and zero hunger. This chapter summarises current prospects and research challenges in the utilisation of fungal resources for a sustainable and circular economy, aiming to raise awareness among academicians, researchers, industry stakeholders, and policymakers about the ongoing fungal biotechnology revolution.
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Ramalakshmi, S., Helan Chandra, J., Sivasubramanian, K., Arvind Bharani, R.S., Lekhavani, R., Suguna, K. (2026). Recent Innovations in Myco-biotechnology: Valourisation of Fungal Resources for a Sustainable and a Circular Economy. In: Gupta, A. (eds) Prospects of Fungal Biotechnologies for Livestock Volume 2. Fungal Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06478-3_7
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