Melia dubiaCav. wood properties vary with age and influence the pulp and paper quality

Abstract

Variations in wood properties such as basic density, tissue proportion, fibre dimensions and their derived indices, cellulose and lignin content of Melia dubia at five age gradations were examined to evaluate the suitability of the species for pulp and paper production. The study showed that basic density, fibre proportion, fibre length, cell wall thickness, slenderness ratio, solids factor, cellulose and lignin content increased with tree age. However, vessel proportion, fibre width and lumen width decreased. Most of the wood properties were found suitable for making good quality pulp and paper at the age of 4 and 5 years in comparison to other hardwood species among five age gradation. Hence, harvesting at fourth and fifth year of age is suggested in M. dubia for high pulp yield and better paper quality.

Identification of some fiber characteristics in Rosa sp. and Nerium oleander L. wood grown under different ecological conditions

“…Wood anatomical characteristics are the most important factors affecting the product quality both in the paper industry and in other industries that use wood as raw material, such as fibre-chip industry and timber industry. For this reason, many studies have been conducted on the identifications of the wood anatomical characteristics of various plant species, and on the suitability of their usage as raw materials in these industries (Marbun et al 2019;Prasetyo et al 2019;Sinha et al 2019;Zhao et al 2019).…”

Water Availability Controls the Biomass Increment of Melia dubia in South India

“…It occurs naturally in the moist tropical forests of peninsular and northeastern India and can also be found, either naturally or introduced, in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia and Ghana [27,28]. M. dubia is a light-demanding, deciduous tree species [29,30] and its wood is suitable for plywood, paper and engineered-wood industries [27,31,32]. However, studies on AGB and the growth of M. dubia are rare so far, and with exception of one study on the effects of varying stand densities [33], its growth potential has not yet been assessed comprehensively across gradients in water and nutrient availability.…”