Investigation of Leucaena Leucocephala leave extracts as eco-friendly antifungal agent for wood

Commercial synthetic wood preservatives are widely used in wood industry as they are both fungicide and insecticide. Nevertheless, to investigate environmentally-benign wood preservative, this study was carried out with to investigate the antifungal potential of leaves of Leucaena leucocephala. Antifungal activity was determined by disc diffusion method and fungal decay test on Rubberwood. The antifungal activity of extracts (100, 250, 500, 1000 µg/ml) of leucaena were tested against white-rot fungal (Trametes versicolor) to determine the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). The result showed that the remarkable inhibition of the fungal growth was shown at 500 µg/ml concentration. Fungal decay test was evaluated by comparison means of weight loss of wood samples, which comprises of treated and untreated Rubberwood. Wood samples was impregnated with the leave extracts and commercial preservative respectively and left for 1 month of period along with the untreated woods. Results shown that specimens treated with crude extracts are the most effective in exhibit fungal growth. Thickness swelling and water absorption of Rubberwood specimens treated with leave extracts, commercial preservative and blank as control were up to the EN Standards.