Overview
Chinova Bioworks (Fredericton, NB) is a biotech company upcycling mushroom waste to create a natural preservative for the food and beverage industry.
What they’re doing: Chitosan is a crustacean-based preservative used for decades, but Chinova has created a far more environmentally friendly way of producing the same preservative by upcycling mushroom stems.
How will this be used in the real world? Chinova has already perfected turning mushroom stumps into a low-carbon, sustainable version of chitosan. Now they’re working on scaling the process to better supply the food and beverage, cosmetics and personal care products sectors, and diverting thousands of tons of mushroom waste from Canadian landfills.