The Possibility of Applying Fungicides with Agricultural Practice to Combat Penicillium chrysogenum as a Model Fungal Genus Dwelling in Library Collections

Abstract

Antiseptics are chemical compounds or mixtures of chemical substances that are used for protecting cultivated plants, which also may be used as a new generation biocides in the protection against microorganisms and preservation of library books. The basic component determining the specificity of a plant protection product used for book conservation is the substance biologically active in relation to certain organisms, i.e. which causes the disorder of the physiological processes by blocking the activity of the respective enzymes.

The aim of the study was to investigate a group of fungicides, not yet in full use in agricultural practice, in terms of their usefulness in protecting old books. For the investigation triazole derivatives were chosen (as a group of asymmetric fungicides), whose mechanism of biological activity is the inhibition of ergosterol, the substance building blocks of the cell membrane. Before the actual investigation, the biological activity of the fungicides was referred in old books preservation process, involving the appointment of the so-called. ED₅₀ coefficients, i.e. what amount of the substance is needed to destroy half of the pathogen population. The ED₅₀ is used to determine the concentration of working fluid which should be sprayed on the surfaces of the protected material: paper, parchment, leather or fabric, providing the required protective efficacy.