Abstract
Fresh chili peppers (Malagueta, Red Savina and Bhut Jolokia) were used as natural finishing agents for Pinus sp. (Pinus). The solvent extraction of dried peppers produced a viscous liquid primarily containing capsicin, a pungent, lipophilic compound, and known as oleoresin capsicum (OC). Changes in surface wettability were monitored by the sessile-drop technique for samples treated with OC. The contact angles for untreated and treated Pinus provided the values of surface energy, with its polar and dispersive components, and polarity ratios. When treated with OC extracted from more pungent peppers, such as Bhut Jolokia, Pinus showed higher contact angles in non-polar probe liquids and higher polarity. The protective efficacy of OC was investigated against two wood-decay fungi, Paecilomyces variotii (soft-rot fungus) and Pycnoporus sanguineus (white-rot fungus). The treated samples, when submitted to fungal decay, exhibited reduced percentage of mass loss, which indicated that OC can afford surface protection under the conditions studied here. Changes in cellulose crystallinity were observed owing to distinct contributions from amorphous and crystalline zones of Pinus after fungal decay.
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