Evaluation of honey bee propolis as wood preservative on <i>Triplochiton scleroxylon</i> using maximum compressive strength

Abstract

This study was carried out in order to investigate the fungi toxic potentials of Honey bee Propolis, using the wood of Triplochiton scleroxylon. Propolis Extract (PE) was obtained using absolute ethanol as solvent. The inhibition of PE over two decay fungi, Coriolopsis polyzona and Coniophora puteana was tested using four different concentration levels. The efficacy of PE was evaluated using Maximum Compressive Strength (MCS) on wood blocks of T. scleroxylon after 16weeks of incubation. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics and 2-way Analysis of Variance. Results were significant (P<0.01), recording the mean Maximum Compressive Strength (MCS) of blocks exposed to C. polyzona of 18.64±0.24N/mm² for control and 25.45±0.28 N/mm² at 50% concentration, while test blocks exposed to C. puteana was 16.31±0.20N/mm2 for control and 21.22±0.08N/mm² at 50% concentration respectively. The study concluded that Propolis extract was effective for controlling the test fungi and recommended the use of other solvents and fungal strains for the evaluation of propolis antifungal activity.