HARNESSING THE ANTIFUNGAL PROPERTIES OF OCIMUM GRATISSIMUM FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER-BASED PAINT FORMULATIONS

Water-based paint spoilage is caused by actions of some microorganism, resulting in the deterioration of paint quality and coating integrity. This research work focused on water-based paint spoilage fungi, and the use of Ocimum gratissimum in the control of water-based paint spoilage fungi. Twenty paint samples were examined microbiologically, physiologically and physic-chemically after post-atmospheric exposure of 48 h. pH, specific gravity and viscosity were the physico-chemical parameters observed in the research. The phytoconstituents of O. gratissimum were also analysed. Cladosporium tenuissimum,Rhizopus sp., Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tamarii were the fungi isolated from the exposed paint samples with C. tenuissimum giving the highest occurrence of 55%. Antifungal activity of O. gratissimum (ethanolic extract) against C. tenuissimum gave a Minimum Inhibitory Concentration of 50mg/ml. The phytocontituents of the plant extract are flavonoids, tannins, alkaloid, saponin, steroid and terpenoids. Incorporation of the extract in already water-based paint contaminated with C. tenuissimum, revealed that the extract was able to control the growth of the fungi, however, it also affected the colouration and texture of the paint samples. This research work shows that O. gratissimum has the potential to be used as a natural biocide in paint production, which has major advantages of non-toxicity and bio-degradability as compared to artificial biocides used in paint production.