Test 2 Survivability of Fungi

To find out how the samples are able to resist the survivability of fungi, a sample swatch survival test was carried out using two test organisms (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma viridae. Starting from 48 hours to 260 hours of incubation at 27⁰C, the survival of the known fungi in all the 4 samples was assayed over a constant period of time, every 24 hours. Results indicate that the survivability of fungi was more or less the same on all the four test samples.

From this test, it can be concluded that the antifungal resistance of bamboo, cotton and 50/50% bam/cot are equally efficient, when compared with rayon. Generally, all the four samples supported the growth of T. Viridae and resisted the growth of A. niger.

Table - 5 Survival of fungi - Aspergillus niger (Before wear of socks)

* 10² cfu/ml

Table -6 Survival of fungi - Trichoderma viridae (Before wear of socks)

* 10² cfu/ml

Test 3 - Determination Of Rate Of Growth And Comparison Between Four Samples

The growth rate of bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus) and fungi (T. Viridae and A. niger) were compared when grown on the four test samples as substrates. The results are presented in Table.7. This test proves that the growth rate of organisms on bamboo as a substrate is less, when compared with cotton and rayon. The natural antimicrobial effect of bamboo does not allow the multiplication of bacteria and fungi and ultimately proves to be both bacteria static and fungi static. The growth rate of microorganisms on 100% cotton is same as rayon. On 50/50% bam/cot, the growth rate of organism is less when compared with cotton.

Table -7 Comparison of the growth rate of bacteria and fungi

Note

+ - Moderate Growth Rate

++ - High Growth Rate

+++ - Very High Growth Rate