Efficacy of Homoeopathic Drugs For The Control of Fungal Growth On Cellulosic Materials

Abstract

Cultural property made of cellulosic materials is more subjected to bio-deterioration in tropical and sub- tropical countries because of humid and warm climate. The most severe deterioration of paper and textile objects is brought about by fungi having high cellulolytic activity. Use of chemical biocides for controlling the growth of fungi may have adverse effect on cellulosic objects and further they have potential explosion hazard to the users. Homoeopathic drug have long been used for the treatment of human diseases of fungal origin. Therefore, to prevent fungal growth on paper, five homoeopathic drugs viz., Tellurium, Psorinum, Arsenicum, Rumex and Graphitis were tested for their antifungal efficacy against cellulolytic fungi isolated from deteriorated paper and textile materials. Out of 16 fungi so isolated, three, namely, Aspergillus niger, Chaetomium globosum and Emericella nidulans were found to be most frequent and had highest cellulose activity. During in vitro testing, two homoeopathic drugs, Arsenicum and Rumex showed maximum inhibition of fungal growth. These two homoeopathic drugs were also found effective against all the three fungal isolates, under in situ conditions, even after one year of incubation. Both the homoeopathic drugs were also tested on book pages damaged by fungi and encouraging results were obtained.