How wood chemistry relates to structural stability
Thursday, March 24, 2016 - 07:00
in Biology & Nature
Wood has many uses, which require to know its shrinking and swelling capacity in relation to humidity (known as dimensional stability). Researchers from the CNRS and Cirad have shown that in Bagassa guianensis, a fast-growing Guianese tree, the secondary metabolites, whose main purpose is to defend the tree against insects and fungi, also serve to reduce shrinkage. These metabolites therefore make B. guianensis wood very stable. These results were obtained using a method that will be applied to a broad range of other tree species. They show how describing biodiversity through in-depth analysis of wood properties can help identify promising species for future plantation. These findings will be published in PLOS ONE on March 23rd 2016.