Researchers found that corn steep liquor, a waste product from corn processing, can be used as an inexpensive ingredient to help grow mushroom mycelia that produce fairy chemicals. Fairy chemicals are special compounds with potential uses in agriculture and cosmetics, but they are very expensive to produce. By using different concentrations of corn steep liquor in growth media, scientists determined optimal conditions for either growing more mycelia or producing more of the beneficial chemicals, making these compounds more affordable for practical use.