USING LIPASE ENZYME IN CLEANING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLASS: AN EXPERIMENTAL APPLIED STUDY

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Conservation department, Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt.

2 Ministry of tourism and antiques, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

The main objective of this research paper is to study the effect of
lipase enzyme on the waxy materials mixed with the carbon particles
resulting from the burning of the candles, which were difficult to
remove in one of the archaeological glass candle stands in the Coptic
Museum, Cairo, Egypt. The paper is divided into an experimental
study for the use of the lipase enzyme in glass cleaning and an
applied study on cleaning an archaeological glass candle stand.
The experimental samples were cleaned using lipase enzyme
from Burkholderia sp. X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) was used to
identify the components of the archaeological glass candle stand
in the colorless and colored parts. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and
Raman spectroscopy analysis were used to identify the damaged
products in the study sample. Then, the stereo microscope and USB
digital microscope were employed to find out the efficacy of the
lipase enzymes in the cleaning of experimental samples and the
applied study. The results proved that there was a high efficacy in
the dissolution of waxy fatty layers and the dissociation of carbon
calcifications. USB digital microscopic images showed that lipase
enzymes from Burkholderia sp. gave good results in cleaning the
surface of the archaeological candle stand. Moreover, the enzyme
was inhibited with the use of ethyl alcohol.

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