The use of chitosan in protecting wooden artifacts from damage by mold fungi

• BackgroundMany buildings in Egypt e.g. museums, mosques and churches, do not possess controlled environments for minimizing the risks of damage of wooden artifacts due to the growth of fungi. Fungal damage usually appears as change in wood color, appearance of stains, and sometimes deformation of wooden surfaces. In this study we focused on the effect that some fungi exert on the properties of wooden artifacts and evaluated the effectiveness of different concentrations of chitosan on their protection against damage by mold fungi.ResultsSamples were collected from different monuments and environments, and fungi growing on them were isolated and identified. The isolated Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus flavus and A. niger strains were used for the infestation of new pitch pine samples. The results revealed that the lightness of samples infected with any of the tested fungi decreased with increasing incubation times. XRD analysis showed that the crystallinity of incubated samples treated individually with the different concentrations of chitosan was lower than the crystallinity of infected samples. The crystallinity index measured by the first and the second method decreased after the first and second months but increased after the third and fourth months. This may due to the reducing of amorphous part by enzymes or acids produced by fungi in wooden samples.ConclusionsThe growth of fungi on the treated wood samples decreased with increasing the concentration of chitosan. Hence, it was demonstrated that chitosan prevented fungal growth, and its use could be recommended for the protection of archaeological wooden artifacts.

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Industriell bioteknik -- Bioprocessteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Industrial Biotechnology -- Bioprocess Technology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

archaeological wood

Chitosan protection

crystallinity index

damage of wooden artifacts

filamentous fungi

FTIR

Fungal damage

prevention of fungal growth

UV spectrophotometry

wood deterioration

XRD

Biokemisk processteknik

Biochemical Process Engineering

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)