Stability of the Fungal Pigment from Carried in Food-Grade Natural Oils.

Wood-staining fungal pigments have shown potential use as colorants for wood and textiles, with organic solvents as the pigment carrier. Natural oils have been suggested as an environmentally friendly and more available carrier; however, oils promoted color degradation. The current study examined the mechanism of said degradation and tested therapeutic and food-grade oils (instead of finishing oils) for their potential to carry draconin red, the pigment from , without color loss over time.

Wood Colorization through Pressure Treating: The Potential of Extracted Colorants from Spalting Fungi as a Replacement for Woodworkers' Aniline Dyes.

The extracellular colorants produced by , , and , three commonly utilized spalting fungi, were tested against a standard woodworker's aniline dye to determine if the fungal colorants could be utilized in an effort to find a naturally occurring replacement for the synthetic dye. Fungal colorants were delivered in two methods within a pressure treater-the first through solubilization of extracted colorants in dichloromethane, and the second via liquid culture consisting of water, malt, and the actively growing fungus. Visual external evaluation of the wood test blocks showed complete surface coloration of all wood species with all colorants, with the exception of the green colorant (xylindein) from in liquid culture, which did not produce a visible surface color change.