Efficacy of Essential Oils on Fungi Isolated from Archaeological Objects in Saqqara Excavation, Egypt

Abstract

The archeological objects constitute an important part of the worldwide cultural heritage. The impact of the fungal activity on the deterioration of cultural heritage is a global problem and their preservation over time is a challenging task. Antifungal activities of 12 essential oils (EOs) (black cumin, castor, cinnamon, clove, cumin, garlic, geranium, lavender, lemongrass, menthe, olive, and thyme) were examined against 16 fungal species isolated from three tested archaeological objects (wall painting stone, wooden statue, and pottery coffin) from Saqqara stores in Egypt. Molecular identification was carried out for the highly frequent species (Aspergillus niger, A. flavus and Rhizopus oryzae) in the three tested archaeological samples. Antifungal activity and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the tested EOs with different concentrations (0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 μl/ml) were measured.

The most efficient EOs were thyme (MIC ranged from 0.25–0.75μl/ml) followed by clove (MIC ranged from 0.25–1 μl/ml) and geranium, (MIC ranged from 0.5–1 μl/ml). Thymol (37.1%) and p-Cymene (26.32%) were the active constituents of thyme, while Triacetin (69.36%) and eugenol (28.67) were the most efficient components of clove oil followed by geranium active components (à-Citronellol 20.62% and Geraniol 14.43%). Aspergillus niger was the most resistance species, while Fusarium oxysporum and Penicilium citrinium were the most susceptible ones.

Keywords:

• Archeological
• cultural heritage
• essential oils
• fungal deterioration
• minimal inhibitory concentration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.