Oil-heat treatment of rubberwood for optimum changes in chemical constituents and decay resistance
2016
I. Umar | Zaidon A. | Lee, S. H. | R. Halis
Effects of oil–heat treatment on chemical constituents anddecay resistance of rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) were investigated in this work. Oil–heat treatment withpalm oil as heating medium was carried out by immersing rubberwood samples (300 mm longitudinally× 20 mm radially × 20 mm tangentially) in hot oil bath. Wood samples were immersed in the palm oilat temperatures and time periods ranging from 172 to 228 °C and 95 to 265 min respectively. Cellulose,hemicellulose and lignin contents and weight loss of samples by the fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus wereevaluated. Four linear and one quadratic models were developed using response surface methodology.High adjusted r2 values were obtained and the adequacy of the models was confirmed. Cellulose andhemicellulose reduced in treated samples. Such reductions became greater with increasing temperatureand exposure time. However, lignin content of samples increased with increasing temperature of treatmentand extended time. Decay resistance of treated samples against P. sanguineus improved with increasedtreatment temperature and time. The enhancement in decay resistance was highly related to chemicalconstituents in the treated sample.
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