New publication from our colleagues at FPInnovations
Western
red cedar (WRC) is highly valued for its natural durability. Rapid methods to assess heartwood durability are needed to identify breeding stock that will ultimately yield
trees with durable wood when harvested. Chromatographic methods to detect heartwood
extractives have been developed, but these still require significant time and laboratory
resources, and rely upon an understanding of the relationship between extractives
and durability that is still incomplete. Visible/Near infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy
combined with multivariate statistical analysis has been used to rapidly predict a
wide range of wood properties, including extractive content and decay resistance.
The present work investigates the ability of VIS/NIR spectroscopy to predict extractive
content, decay resistance and termite resistance of WRC heartwood, and explores
the association between extractive content and durability. Partial Least Squares
(PLS) models based on VIS/NIR spectra had moderate predictive ability for lignans,
plicatic acid, beta-thujaplicinol, and total extractives. Other extractives
were poorly
predicted. Developed PLS models were not predictive for decay resistance, but were
moderately predictive of termite resistance. Decay and termite resistance were not
strongly associated with any measured extractive. A moderately strong
correlation was
observed between termite resistance and red coloration (a*). Some of the models developed
may be suitable for screening, but none are accurate enough for phenotyping.
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