Mural paintings are some of the oldest and most important cultural expressions of mankind and play an important role for the understanding of societies and civilizations. These cultural assets have high economic and cultural value and therefore their degradation has social and economic impact. The present work presents a novel microanalytical approach to understand the damages caused by microbial communities in mural paintings. This comprises the characterization and identification of microbial diversity and evaluation of damage promoted by their biological activity. Culture-dependent methods and DNA-based approaches like denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and pyrosequencing are important tools in the isolation and identification of the microbial communities allowing characterization of the biota involved in the biodeterioration phenomena. Raman microspectrometry, infrared spectrometry, and variable pressure scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry are also useful tools for evaluation of the presence of microbial contamination and detection of the alteration products resulting from metabolic activity of the microorganisms. This study shows that the degradation status of mural paintings can be correlated to the presence of metabolically active microorganisms.

Different compounds of edible mushrooms are responsible for their bioactivity. The ability to synthesize polysaccharides, namely protein–polysaccharide (PPS) complexes, is related to the antioxidant capacity of these compounds and present great interest in preventing a number of diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular and auto-immune diseases, and accelerated aging. Amanita ponderosa are wild edible mushrooms that grow in Mediterranean “montado” areas [Portuguese name given to cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus ilex) forests]. The aim of this study was to evaluate the production of PPS complexes obtained from A. ponderosa cultures using a new microanalytical approach to quickly and easily monitor the production process. Microanalysis using Fourier-transform infrared using attenuated total reflection and Raman spectroscopy of PPS samples showed spectra compatible with identification of this type of compound in culture extracts. PPS separated by size-exclusion chromatography showed seven main complexes. Molecular weights of the main PPS complexes isolated from cultures ranged between 1.5 and 20 kDa and did not present toxicity against Artemia salina, demonstrating the potential of A. ponderosa as a source of biologically active compounds with nutraceutical value. Application of this microanalytical approach to monitoring the production of PPS compounds can be successfully applied in biotechnological processes.