Viability of wood decaying fungal mycelium after microwave radiation of bamboo culm

Pawan Kumar Poonia,Manish Kumar,Anil Kumar,Shivaklara R Deepa

doi:10.4067/s0718-221x2021000100404

Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of microwave (MW) radiation on viability of wood decaying fungi. The white rot (Trametes versicolor) and brown rot (Rhodonia placenta) fungi were grown on bamboo culm-samples. The mycelium growths were observed in controlled as well as microwave treated samples. The results showed that the viability of fungi decreased according to the applied MW time. This study proved the ability of the microwaves and exposure time MW3 (180 seconds) to kill the fungal colonies and do not allow for the growth of fungal spores, means the rate of growth of fungal colonies is inversely proportional to time of microwave exposure

Highlights

The chief economic product of forest is wood i.e., utilized for various purposes such as construction, furniture, door, window, among other
The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of MW on viability and decay of future wood decaying fungi
The results revealed that the control samples exhibited higher weight loss i.e., 48,09 and 47,66 percentage in white (T. versicolor) and brown rot (R. placenta) fungi respectively

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The chief economic product of forest is wood i.e., utilized for various purposes such as construction, furniture, door, window, among other. Many types of organisms deteriorate wood, the greatest damage is from fungi and insect, and to a minor extent- from bacteria (Highley et al 1994, Schmidt 2006). Microwave (MW) radiation is an innovative method for improving wood permeability, treatability and the drying rate of wood This method can be capable of inactivating microbial contaminations on exposed surfaces but inside them as well (Poonia and Tripathi 2018). It can result in reducing or stopping colonization of microbiologically contaminated surfaces and can decrease the number of agents contributing to the adverse effects on growing environment of fungi (Chipley 1980). The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of MW on viability and decay of future wood decaying fungi

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

CONCLUSIONS