Wood injury characteristics of fungi isolated from printing woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana in the Haeinsa Temple at Hapcheon, Republic of Korea

We investigated the wood-damaging characteristics of microorganisms by conducting decay tests on the surface of woodblocks made from the wood of Prunus sargentii, with the aim of identifying ways to preserve the woodblocks. The microorganisms were classified into 29 types of fungi and 6 types of bacteria. Among them 11 types of fungi showed high wood-degrading enzyme activity, and hence classified under risk levels 2-3. We also found that the anti-mold effect of P. sargentii was low, based on the finding that surface contaminants such as Eupenicillium rubidurum and Penicillium oxalicum grew on the P. sargentii specimen. In addition, these strains were grew on the surface of a lacquered P. sargentii specimen, and the anti-mold effect of the lacquer did not seem to correlate with the number of lacquer applications. The P. sargentii specimen was found to have a higher weight loss rate than a Pinus densiflora specimen, which indicated that the preservative effect of P. sargentii against Coprinellus radians was low. However, the weight loss rate of the lacquered P. sargentii specimen was low, and mycelium was not observed in the wood tissue. In conclusion, we believe that lacquer exerts a preservative effect on P. sargentii specimens.