Color Change and Resistance to Subterranean Termite Attack of Mangium (Acacia mangium) and Sengon (Falcataria moluccana) Smoked Wood

Abstract

Indonesian log production is dominated by young trees harvested from plantation forests. The timber contains of sapwood and juvenile wood, which are not resistant to termite attack. Smoking treatment can enhance wood resistance to termite attack, but it also changes the color. Specimens of mangium (Acacia mangium) and sengon (Falcataria moluccana) wood were exposed for 1, 2, and 3 weeks to smoke produced from the pyrolysis of salam (Syzygium polyanthum) wood. The color change of the wood was measured using the CIELab method. In addition, wood specimens were exposed to subterranean termites (Coptotermes curvignathus Holmgren) under laboratory conditions. Untreated and imidacloprid-preserved wood samples were also prepared for comparison purposes. The results showed that the color of smoked wood differed from that of untreated wood, and the color change for sengon was greater than for mangium. In addition, the 1-week smoking period changed the wood color less than the 2-and 3-week periods, which did not differ. Imidacloprid-preserved wood had distinctive color changes compared to untreated wood. Untreated mangium wood had moderate resistance to subterranean termite attack (resistance class III), while sengon had very poor resistance (resistance class V). Salam wood smoke enhanced wood resistance to termite attack, and smoke treatment of 1 week for mangium and 2 weeks for sengon resulted in the wood becoming very resistant (resistance class I). Both types of smoked wood were more resistant to subterranean termite attack than imidacloprid-preserved wood (average class II resistance).

Stain Fungi and Discoloration Control on Rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg.) by Vacuum-Pressure Treatment with Catechin from Gambir (Uncaria gambir Roxb.)

“…In summary, there was a significant difference in color (ΔE) between the untreated wood samples (control) and wood samples impregnated with catechin solutions. This finding is relevant to the study by Hadi et al (2020Hadi et al ( , 2022, who reported that any chemical treatment of wood could potentially change its natural color. However, no color differences were observed among the wood samples treated with catechin solutions at concentrations of 9%, 12%, and 15%.…”

Preference of Subterranean Termites among Community Timber Species in Bogor, Indonesia

“…9 showed that jabon wood and rubberwood were most favored by termites during the baiting, followed by pine, manii, IV due to its low resistance to subterranean termites (Arsyad et al, 2019). Acacia was classified as resistance class III and for sengon wood was class V (Hadi et al, 2020). The class also indicates that the wood species was favored by termites and caused greater damage.…”

Thermal Compression Effect on Several Properties of 8-Year-Old Waru Gunung (Hibiscus Macrophylllus) Wood

“…The results indicated the use of hot pressing at 200 ˚C tended to produce a darker colour on the specimen surface than at the temperature of 180 ˚C. The discoloration of the smoked-wood specimens, where they appeared darker and stronger compared to the non-smoked specimens occurred due to heat exposure during the wood-smoking process (Hadi et al 2020). Such discoloration of the thermally compressed specimens was due to the presence of the heat-stable or the least degraded lignin.…”