Extraction of fungal colorants for their use in coloured coatings for wood

IRG/WP 22-40938

K Kusstatscher, N Pfabigan, M Senoner, L Orlowsky, A Steitz, B Forsthuber, S Niedermayer, R Gründlinger

Microorganisms are highly interesting for the production of useful metabolites. Such metabolites are e.g. colorants, that can easily be produced on industrial scale and low material costs. To date some microbial produced colorants are used in textile- and food industry because of their low toxicity and sustainability compared to synthetically produced colorants. However, little is known about the use of such colorants in wood protecting coatings. Therefore, the present work focused on the isolation of colorant producing fungi, cultivation of these fungi and extraction of their colorants to produce coloured coatings for wood protection. About 10 interesting organisms have been isolated from soil, air and water samples, mainly producing the colours yellow/brown and red/pink. They have been grown for colorant production and extraction of colorants took place by simple extraction with a suitable solvent or Soxhlet extraction. With the colorant of the fungus HFA 136 Scytalidium cuboideum crystals from around 1,5 cm of length with high purity could be produced. Purity was checked by NMR- and mass spectrometry. Received crystals were incorporated in a base coating for wood protection and applicated on wooden samples for testing the stability against photooxidation of the colorant in the coating. Experiments for light-stability are still ongoing but first experiments show promising results. However, the present work shows, that colorant producing fungi are common and can be isolated easily from environmental samples. There is a lot of research to be done on this topic, that is seminal for future trends regarding the increasing environmental and health awareness.


Keywords: fungal colorants, wood protection, pigment production, natural pigments

Conference: 22-05-29/06-02 Bled, Slovenia


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