Antifungal activity of titanium dioxide on fungal isolated from Singgora roof tile

Abstract

The Singgora roof tile or usually called clay roof tile, was widely used in traditional Malay houses. The clay itself has a high moisture absorption rate, making it an ideal habitat for fungal growth. A Kirby-Bauer Test, also called Zone of Inhibition, is a qualitative method used to measure antibiotic resistance. The addition of the antifungal agent, Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), into the clay can inhibit the growth of fungi. The fungi (Penicillium sp., Aspergillus sp., and Cladosporium sp.) obtained from old Singgora roof tile were cultured using Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) as the nutrient medium. The single colonies were subculture into the new medium and observe the sporulation growth for antifungal susceptibility testing. Six paper discs were distributed evenly on the medium representing each different TiO2 weight percentage (0,5,10,20,25,30 wt.%). The discs were immersed in different concentrations of TiO2 solutions. Observation after 24 hours incubation, the optimum antifungal agent for fungi inhibition was at 5wt.% of TiO2 with Zone of Inhibition (ZOI) reached up to 4mm. In addition, 5 wt.% TiO2 is the best composition to inhibit the growth of fungi and have good physical and morphological properties of tile samples. Higher composition of TiO2 improves the properties of Singgora roof tile. The addition of TiO2 as an antifungal agent into clay roof tile shows the improvement in the characterization of the tiles sample.