Wood Chemistry in a Changing Global Environment

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Meteorology and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 December 2023) | Viewed by 2402

Special Issue Editors

Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: Eucalyptus; extractives; wood anatomy

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Guest Editor
Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: chemometrics; near infrared spectroscopy; wood science; wood chemistry; wood products; Eucalyptus; lignin; PY-GC-MS; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; forestry; lignocellulose degradation; lignocellulosic conversion; biofuel production; biomass conversion; hydrothermal treatment; wood anatomy
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wood, a composite of holocellulose, lignin, and extractives, provides a record of past environmental and ontogenic effects throughout the life of a tree. Species-specific genetic and ontogenic factors influence the biosynthesis of wood formation and, by extension, its chemical composition. Tree-ring research is a dynamic discipline that encompasses dendrochronology, dendroclimatology, and more recently dendrobiochemistry by including tree-ring wood features that can be measured. Biomacromolecules have not been considered thus far, mainly due to limitations imposed by classical wet chemistry methods. Recently, precise quantification at the semi-micro level based on analytical pyrolysis has opened up the opportunity to perform this analysis. The main constraint for an efficient study of the chemical changes associated with environmental changes is the large tree-to-tree chemical variation that makes it nearly impossible to perceive the differences between the control and test groups. In addition, research is limited to a small number of young plants that can be accommodated in greenhouses. Analyzing tree rings formed under extreme events as well as annual rings from preceding and subsequent years used as a control group constitutes an efficient way to overcome these limitations.

We welcome submissions on the effects of extreme weather events or any climatic change on the biomacromolecular content and/or composition of wood.

Dr. Ana Alves
Dr. José Carlos Carvalho Rodrigues
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • annual growth rings
  • biomacromolecules
  • extreme weather events
  • drought
  • wave heat
  • analytical pyrolysis
  • extractives
  • lignin
  • cellulose
  • hemicelluloses

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1223 KiB  
Article
Phytochemical Study, FTIR and GC-MS Characterization and Evaluation of the Antioxidant Activity of Letestua durissima Extracts
by Ley-Fleury Ella Nkogo, Marlain Stevy Mikala Mouendou, Stéphane Dumarçay, Prosper Edou Engonga and Philippe Gérardin
Forests 2024, 15(3), 429; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15030429 - 23 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 956
Abstract
The current study focused on extract content, phytochemical screening, GC-MS analysis, infrared analysis and antioxidant activity evaluation of bark, sapwood and heartwood of Letestua durissima, commonly called Kong Afane in Gabon, using DPPH and ABTS methods. The highest extract contents, reaching 37.3%, [...] Read more.
The current study focused on extract content, phytochemical screening, GC-MS analysis, infrared analysis and antioxidant activity evaluation of bark, sapwood and heartwood of Letestua durissima, commonly called Kong Afane in Gabon, using DPPH and ABTS methods. The highest extract contents, reaching 37.3%, were observed in the bark. Phytochemical tests revealed the presence of alkaloids, polyphenols, sterols, terpenes, flavonoids and saponins in the extracts. The quantitative results highlighted high concentrations of polyphenols (95.56 mg GAE g−1 of dry extract in the acetone extract), condensed tannins (113.45 mg CE g−1 of dry extract in the extract toluene–ethanol) and flavonoids (20.26 mg CE g−1 of dry extract in the toluene–ethanol extract) in the bark. Regarding the evaluation of antioxidant activity, the results showed a significant capacity of the extracts to scavenge free radicals. This activity was more pronounced in the toluene–ethanol extracts, with an IC50 of 0.66 for the ABTS method and 2.39 for that of DPPH. The GC-MS identification of phenolic compounds such as hydroxybenzoic acid, protocatechuic acid, gallic acid, catechin and triterpenes could explain the high reactivity of our extracts as antioxidants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Chemistry in a Changing Global Environment)
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16 pages, 1994 KiB  
Article
Chemical Composition and FTIR Analysis of Acetylated Turkey Oak and Pannonia Poplar Wood
by Fanni Fodor and Tamás Hofmann
Forests 2024, 15(1), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15010207 - 19 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1059
Abstract
In this research, acetylation was applied under industrial conditions to improve the properties of Turkey oak and Pannonia poplar wood. Both species are potential “climate winners” in Hungary, yet they are currently underused due their low durability and poor dimensional stability. The acetylation [...] Read more.
In this research, acetylation was applied under industrial conditions to improve the properties of Turkey oak and Pannonia poplar wood. Both species are potential “climate winners” in Hungary, yet they are currently underused due their low durability and poor dimensional stability. The acetylation modification process may be a suitable method to improve their properties. In order to verify the effectiveness of the process, comparative chemical analyses (cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, extractives, ash, buffering capacity, and pH) of the untreated and acetylated heartwood and sapwood were carried out for both species for the first time. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy was also used to support the evaluation of the chemical analyses. The weight percent gain was 11.54% for poplar and 0.94% for Turkey oak, indicating poor treatment efficiency for the latter. The cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin contents changed significantly in poplar, with the highest change (+81%) induced by acetylating the hemicelluloses. Only the alpha-cellulose content decreased significantly in Turkey oak, presumably due to the degradation of the non-crystalline part of the cellulose. Acetylation may improve the resistance of Pannonia poplar against moisture, weather, decay, and wood-boring insects, but the process parameters need to be optimized in order to prevent degradation and discoloration in poplar. Turkey oak was found to be less suitable for acetylation due to its low permeability and tendency to crack. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Chemistry in a Changing Global Environment)
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