Colorimetry of Acacia mangium wood from plantations in northeast Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate color characteristics in wood samples from Acacia mangium from a homogeneous plantation in Bahia state, northeast Brazil, and also analyze the influence of anatomical section and radial position in the trunk on color response to contribute to information for the best use of the wood, such as, for example, the optimization of the performance of the pieces in sawmill through the most acceptable aesthetic form by the final consumer. Six trees with age of 14 years were cut. The species was identified by anatomical analysis at the Laboratory of Wood Anatomy of the Federal University of Paraná, comparing the sample collected with the authenticated material. A disc from the base of each tree was divided into six samples oriented in anatomical sections (transversal, radial and tangential), with dimensions of 20 × 20 × 30mm, named near pith, intermediate and near bark. A total of 36 samples were evaluated, 12 from each position. The colorimetric evaluation was performed with a CM-5 spectrophotometer. Data on lightness, green-red and blue-yellow chromatic coordinates were obtained, and values of saturation and hue angle were calculated. Acacia wood from planted forest is classified as olive color. Color parameters were influenced by anatomical section and radial position in the trunk, being found 44 for the transversal section, 55 for the tangential section and 57 in the radial for luminosity. Transversal sections had lower values in comparison to longitudinal surfaces and radial sections had higher luminosity than tangential sections. The near bark region presented lower values in most colorimetric parameters, except hue angle, in comparison with the intermediate and near pith regions, which was around 70 in the different positions of the wood.