Global population growth, climate change, and the environmental impact of livestock production have accelerated the search for sustainable and efficient protein sources. Fruiting bodies (mushrooms) and mycelial biomass have emerged as promising alternatives due to their high nutritional quality, low ecological footprint, and compatibility with circular bioeconomy principles. This review highlights the nutritional, biotechnological, and environmental aspects of fungal proteins obtained from both fruiting bodies and mycelial biomass of Basidiomycetes. Emphasis is placed on amino acid composition, protein digestibility, and advances in cultivation and fermentation systems for large-scale production. Submerged and solid-state fermentation processes are analyzed in terms of scalability, resource efficiency, and integration with agro-industrial residues for sustainable bioprocessing. Comparative analyses reveal that mycelial biomass production achieves high protein yields with significantly reduced land, water, and energy requirements compared to conventional protein sources. Emerging fungal species such as Schizophyllum commune and Auricularia polytricha demonstrate strong potential for producing protein-rich mycelia applicable to functional and plant-based foods. Finally, the review discusses current technological innovations, regulatory frameworks, and market perspectives that position fungal biomass as a strategic component in the ongoing global protein transition.

Microbial enzymes have attracted considerable attention as biocatalysts for plastic transformation, yet the experimental evidence supporting reported biodegradation varies substantially in quality and interpretation. Surface-sensitive techniques, molecular-weight analyses, identification of transformation products, microbial assimilation assays, and carbon-tracking approaches each validate different stages of polymer transformation, but they are often treated as equivalent evidence of biodegradation. This review critically examines the analytical basis of enzyme-mediated plastic and microplastic transformation and introduces the Evidence-Level Framework (ELF), which classifies studies according to the highest experimentally validated transformation endpoint, from microbial colonization (ELF 0) to polymer-derived carbon conversion (ELF 5). Systematic screening identified 102 eligible experimental studies from an initial dataset of 150 publications, all of which were classified using the ELF to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current evidence landscape. Most studies clustered within intermediate evidence levels (ELF 2–3), where analytical validation was limited to polymer chain scission or the detection of soluble transformation products. By contrast, only a small proportion demonstrated microbial assimilation or unequivocal polymer-derived carbon conversion. Hydrolysable polyesters and their associated hydrolytic enzymes consistently reached the highest ELF categories because their chemical structure, enzymatic accessibility, and analytical tractability facilitate validation of successive transformation stages. Conventional plastics, however, remain constrained by polymer recalcitrance, limited substrate accessibility, microbial metabolic capacity, and the scarcity of analytical approaches capable of tracking polymer-derived carbon through biological systems. By providing a common framework for interpreting transformation claims, the ELF establishes objective criteria for experimental design, analytical validation, and comparison across independent studies, offering a stronger foundation for more reproducible, mechanistically robust, and environmentally relevant research on microbial plastic transformation.

Agro-industrial residues have emerged as promising sources of bioactive compounds for dermo-cosmetic applications, particularly as inhibitors of collagenase, elastase, hyaluronidase, and tyrosinase. However, the interpretation of reported inhibitory activities is frequently complicated by variations in extraction strategies, matrix composition, assay design, and methodological rigor. This critical narrative review examines how these factors collectively influence the reliability, comparability, and translational relevance of enzyme inhibition data obtained from residue-derived extracts. The literature was analyzed using a framework-oriented approach based on representative peer-reviewed studies selected according to their methodological quality, experimental design, and mechanistic relevance. The analysis integrates three complementary dimensions: extraction and processing strategies, compositional complexity of the recovered matrices, and evidence quality supporting the reported bioactivities. The reviewed literature demonstrates that enzyme inhibition is rarely an intrinsic property of isolated compounds but rather an emergent behavior arising from complex physicochemical systems in which synergistic interactions, matrix effects, and assay-dependent artefacts frequently influence the observed responses. The widespread reliance on simplified in vitro screening methods, often without dose–response evaluation, kinetic characterization, or adequate control of assay interference, remains a major obstacle to reproducibility and cross-study comparison. Based on this analysis, an integrative framework is proposed to guide the interpretation of enzyme inhibition in complex botanical extracts by explicitly linking process design, matrix composition, and methodological evidence. This perspective provides a more robust basis for the identification, validation, and industrial translation of sustainable bioactive ingredients obtained from agro-industrial residues for next-generation dermo-cosmetic formulations.

Araucaria angustifolia residues arise from a seasonal and geographically dispersed value chain. Brazilian pinhão production increased from 8393 t in 2015 to 13,493 t in 2024, corresponding to a theoretical 2699–2969 t of seed coats based on their 20–22% share of seed mass. No equivalent national inventory exists for sterile bracts or cooking water. Seed coats contain approximately 55% cellulose, 9% hemicellulose, 34% lignin, 7% extractives, and 1.6% ash, while sterile-bract extracts contain phenolics and show relevant DPPH and ABTS antioxidant activities. This review integrates compositional and production data with green extraction, product development, downstream compatibility, logistics, and conservation safeguards. Laboratory studies support phenolic recovery, cellulose and nanocellulose production, active films, cosmetic emulsions, fungal conversion, and adsorbents. However, continuous multiproduct cascades, pilot-scale mass and energy balances, techno-economic assessment, and life-cycle assessment remain unavailable. The proposed cascading framework distinguishes validated operations from prospective integration routes and identifies modular preprocessing near production centers as a plausible alternative to centralized refining. Residue valorization may strengthen sustainable pinhão value chains but cannot replace habitat protection, restoration, traceability, or responsible seed-harvesting practices.