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Every year, Mexican beaches receive around 100 thousand tons of sargassum , a type of seaweed that causes severe ecosystem disruption and has resulted in financial losses for the tourist industry.
The National Tourist Promotion Fund (FONATUR) announced that the problem facing Mexican beaches could be seen as an opportunity to obtain a substrate that can aid in the production of edible and medicinal mushrooms.
The institution pointed out that the feat would involve major coordination and cooperation between academics, the Mexican government, and private companies, though it was essential to prevent losses in the tourist industry.
The director of FONATUR, Rogelio Jiménez Pons , indicated that it was of utmost importance to address the issue generated by the growing presence of sargassum since it greatly affected the tourist industry between the months of March and September , resulting in a loss of foreign currency reception.
“This is a very serious problem because it implies cancellations from tourists. We cannot afford to lose our reception of currencies,”
claimed Jiménez Pons in a press conference.
A group of 16 experts from the Scientific Research Center of Yucatán (CICY), the Postgraduate College, and the Popular Autonomous University of the State of Puebla will conduct an investigation to use the marine genetic material as a substrate .
The investigators are designing a biotechnological process to use the algae for obtaining the 500 thousand tons of organic substrate needed to grow mushrooms each year .
According to the doctor Daniel Martínez Carrera, from the Postgraduate College , sargassum can be seen as an alternative for mushroom production, which requires less water than other agricultural products
One kilogram of mushrooms requires approximately 28 liters of water for growth, whereas around 100 thousand liters of water are required per kilo of meat.
“For each ton of humid sargassum, around 114 kilos of mushrooms could be produced, while a ton of dried sargassum would be enough to produce 883.7 kilos of mushrooms ,” he added.
The expert also indicated that once the sargassum is used in the mushroom production process, only 760 kg will remain per each ton, making their degradation process easier .
The group of scientists is looking to create a MXN$100 million fund to conduct supplementary investigations .
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