Background and Objective: Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for fuel, construction and industrial raw materials.  Ziziphus mauritiana is a tropical fruit tree species, belonging to the family Rhamnaceae, the specie is abundant in Sudano-sahelion region of Nigeria and it has been reported to have several medicinal uses from the leaves, stem and  roots,  but  technical  information on the  use  of the wood for construction purposes is limited. Therefore, determinations of selected physical and microscopic description of the wood of Z. mauritiana as a potential wood material for timber were investigated. Materials and Methods: Three matured trees of Z. mauritiana were felled from a research plantation of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife within the University of Maiduguri, in the North-eastern part of Nigeria and cross-cut into billets at the base, middle and top of the stems with estimated age of 7, 6 and 6 years old accordingly from the three sampled trees. Discs were obtained from each billet for determination of Physical properties (Bark, Bast, Sapwood, heartwood and pith proportion, Moisture content (MC), Density and some microscopic description (fibre and parenchyma cells) were all determined. Results: The average wood density of the sampled trees stood at 0.55±0.01g/cm3 and decreased from base to top. Similarly, moisture content decreased from 75.66±3.83% at the base to 54.08±1.19% at the top of the sampling height. The volumetric shrinkage is the total shrinkage in wood volume and it amounted to 10.11±3.17%. Averagely, bast accounted for 3.56±0.70%, 6.50±0.89%, 69.38±0.50 %, 16.00±3.23% and 10.38±1.96 % for bark, sapwood, heartwood and pith proportions respectively across the stem.  Conclusion: The wood of Z. mauritiana is heavy. Within tree, wood density decreased from the base to the top. The range of values obtained in this study fall within the range of 450-750 kg/m-3 for species suitable for furniture, sheeting and lining, parquet, veneer wood for peeling and slicing with large vessel size and parenchyma cells. The range of values of volumetric shrinkage along the height and radial position shows that the wood is dimensionally stable. This was evident in the low tangential–radial shrinkage ratios recorded. Thus, indicating a low risk of deformation in wood during seasoning. 

This study was centered on finding a locally sourced alternative to imported long-fibre pulp for Nigerian pulp and paper mills. Fibre characteristics, chemical composition, and paper properties of pulp handsheets at different levels of kappa number and freeness in the range of 10 oSR and 62 oSR were evaluated using air-dried bast fibre obtained from decorticated kenaf plants grown in southern guinea savanna near Jebba, Nigeria. Kenaf bast fibre compared well with softwood, with an average fibre length of 2.90 mm, a flexibility ratio of 57%, and a Runkel ratio of 0.76. Ash, lignin, and pentosan contents were 0.6%, 12.5%, and 10.6%, respectively, while the cellulose content was 55.5%. Under alkali charge of 15.0 and, sulphidity of 17.5 with constant temperature, cooking time, and liquor-to-fibre ratio of 4.5:1, the screen yield was between 48.8 to 52.8 % with kappa number 12.04 to 20.5. Unbleached pulpsheets at kappa number between 15 and18.5 and pulp freeness 55 oSR and bleached pulp freeness between 148 and 336 mLs had better quality paper in terms of overall pulpsheet strength properties.

This paper endeavoured to assess the acoustic properties of talking drums made from hourglass shells of different geometric shapes out of Gmelina arborea wood with the view of assessing and improving the acoustic properties of the talking drum. Talking drums from 6 different geometric shapes were manufactured from base wood of G. arborea. The lowest and highest means were 172.10 and 175.75 HZ for resonance frequency, 43.67 and 46.50 dB for amplitude, 635.00 and 743.33 ms for sound damping time, 0.06 and 0.14 for best timbre harmonic, 0.30 and 0.41 for poorest harmonic, respectively. Conclusively, talking drums made from these hourglass shells compared differently and it was found that hourglass shell making the talking drum and tension on the rope influences the drum's acoustic performance.

Wood is a unique material for making musical instruments and is used to make West African talking drums, whose pitch can be regulated depending upon how the player strikes the head of drum and changes its tension. Additionally, talking drum manufacturers have certain wood preferences, and in the absence of preferred species, they use supposedly unsuitable woods. Therefore, there is a need to examine wood traits in relation to the pitch of a talking drum. This study was designed to determine the existing relationship between selected wood traits and the frequency of talking drums made from A. robusta wood. Three A. robusta trees were obtained from Onigambari Forest Reserve. From each tree, three bolts of 50 cm in length were obtained from the base, middle, and top of the tree to determine selected properties (moisture content (MC), wood basic density (WBD), modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), and manufacturing of talking drums). A spectrum analyzer was used to analyze the sound frequency of the talking drums at three pitch levels (high, medium, low). A completely randomized block design was used and the data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and correlation analyses at α 0.05. Sound frequency was not significant along sampling height, but was significant at pitch levels. Additionally, the correlation analysis between wood traits and sound frequency was not significant. Thus, wood cannot be recommended for talking drums’ optimal acoustic performance based on wood traits alone.

Aningeria robusta wood is fast becoming popular in Nigeria, due to its excellent performance in structural applications especially in roofing, and in recent times, door frames and furniture. Thus, consideration must be given to its mechanical properties, and fibres in wood is known for providing mechanical support for the wood. Notwithstanding, mechanical failure of wood in service still occurs. To limit such failures assessment is needed to be done on some parameters associated to quality of wood. This study thus assess the relationship between fibre characteristics and physico-mechanical properties of Aningeria robusta wood. Three trees of Aningeria robusta were obtained wood samples of 20x20x300mm were collected to determine modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture (mechanical property), 20X20X20mm for fibre characteristics, and 20x20x60mm for wood density and moisture content. The mean fibre length, fibre diameter, lumen, cell wall thickness (CWT), 1.55mm, 11.71μm, 8.78μm, 1.46μm, while the mean moisture content, density, modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE) were 55.54%, 429.34kg/m 3 , 123.91N/mm 2 , 5876.89N/mm 2 respectively. There existed a negatively significant correlation between fibre length and MOR, and well as CWT and moisture content. This existing relationship implies that the shorter the fibre length, the more the MOR. It can therefore be concluded that existing relationship between fibre characteristics and physico-mechanical properties taken cognisance of where mechanical failure of wood is to be limited.