# Eco-Friendly Preservation of Pharaonic Wooden Artifacts using Natural Green Products
## 5 Conclusions  
Archaeological wooden artefacts constitute a crucial part of global cultural heritage. The impact of fungal activity on the degradation of artefacts poses a significant global problem. The preservation of these artefacts over time represents a challenging task. The essential oils were more effective than the plant extracts against the isolated fungi. Thyme oil exhibited the complete inhibition of the growth of all tested deterioration-causing fungal species at 0.5 \(\mu\)L/mL without any harmful effect on the structure of the archaeological objects and was esthetically suitable for the preservation of artefacts. The application of thyme oil on the most deteriorated experimental aged _Acacia nilotica_ wooden cubes inoculated with the four most common fungal species was successful in terms of wood preservation. Analyses (SEM, XRD, and FTIR) of the experimental wood _A. nilotica_, preserved with thyme oil, highlighted that no significant variations were detected in the characterization of wood before and after treatment. This work shows that thyme oil is highly recommended in the conservation of wooden artefacts, being a promising green and sustainable professional antifungal agent. Moreover, being safe for individuals and the ecosystem and aesthetically acceptable, it is an effective agent for the decontamination and preservation of archaeological wood artefacts that avoids the harmful effects of the frequent use of synthetic fungicides used to protect artefacts. The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14125023/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14125023/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14125023/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app14125023/s1)), Figure S1. The three most deteriorated wooden objects. (a) Woodate statue (L 127 cm, W 47 cm); (b) coffin with cartonnage mummy of [PERSON], son of [PERSON] (L 179 cm, W 55 cm); (c) and (d) front and backside of [PERSON]'s son's box (L 43.5 cm, W 39 cm). Figure S2. Phylogenetic tree _A Aspergillus flavus_. Figure S3. Phylogenetic tree _Apergillus niger_. Figure S4. Phylogenetic tree _Apergillus turnsetus_. Figure S5. Phylogenetic tree _Apergillus terreus_. Table S1. Total counts, relative density (%), and frequency of occurrence of fungal species isolated from the ten tested deteriorated archaeological pharaonic objects in the Egyptian Museum, El-Thahr, Egypt. Table S2. Fungal deterioration of the three experimental aged wooden blocks. Symbols: (\(-\)) no growth, (\(+\)) weak growth, (\(++\)) moderate growth, (\(++\)) strong growth. Table S3. Effect of different concentrations (from 0.125 to 8 \(\mu\)L/mL) of teak extract on the highly deteriorating fungal species isolated from ten archaeological pharaonic wooden objects. The minimum inhibitory concentrations, MICs (\(\mu\)L/mL), resulted from the effect on the diameter of mycelia growth and percentage of mycelia growth inhibition, compared to the control (treated with Itraconazole). The numbers are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(n=3\)) for each sample. D: diameter (mm) of mycelia growth; P: percentage (%) of mycelia growth inhibition; LSD: least significant difference (\(p<0.05\)). Table S4. Effect of different concentrations (from 0.125 to 8 \(\mu\)L/mL) of eucalyptus extract on the highly deteriorating fungal species isolated from ten archaeological pharaonic wooden objects. The minimum inhibitory concentrations, MICs (\(\mu\)L/mL), resulted from the effect on the diameter of mycelia growth and the percentage of mycelia growth inhibition, compared to the control (treated with Itraconazole). The numbers are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation (\(n=3\)) for each sample. D: diameter (mm) of mycelia growth; P: percentage (%) of mycelia growth inhibition; LSD: least significant difference (\(p<0.05\)). Table S5. Effect of different concentrations (from 0.125 to 8 \(\mu\)L/mL) of Melia extract on the highly deteriorating fungal species isolated from ten archaeological pharaonic wooden objects.