COLOUR CHANGE AND EFFECTIVITY OF CHEMICALLY-SMOKED BASED PRESERVATIVES COMPOUNDS ON THREE FAST-GROWING TROPICAL TREE SPECIES WOOD

Abstract

Timber from plantation forests dominantly contains sapwood and a high percentage of juvenile wood susceptible to termite attack. The resistance of wood against termite attack was found to be enhanced by smoke treatment. The current study investigated the effectiveness of preservatives developed based on chemically-smoke compound on three tropical fast-growing tree species against termite attack. The preservatives formulations A, B, C and D were developed using different compositions of acidic, phenolic, benzene-derivative and alcoholic compound. The wood species selected were from gmelina (Gmelina arborea), jabon (Anthocephalus cadamba) and rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis). The test was conducted in a laboratory according to the Indonesian standard SNI 7207-2014 using subterranean termite (Coptotermes curvignathus). The results showed that after the preservation process the wood colour which was previously light bright, red and yellow colour turned to darker shades. The untreated woods had poor resistant to subterranean termite attack with an average class of 4.5. In contrast, the preserved woods had moderate resistance with an average or enhanced class of 3.3 or 1.2, respectively. The formulations A, B, C and D were not significantly different with formulation D showed the best results in wood resistance. Therefore, these formulae could be incorporated with other types of chemicals similar to the compounds contained in the wood smoke to produce a more effective preservative for better enhancement of wood resistance.