The Chemical Composition of Wood

Abstract

This chapter includes overall chemical composition of wood, methods of analysis, structure of hemicellulose components and degree of polymerization of carbohydrates. Tables of data are compiled for woods of several countries. Components include: cellulose (Cross and Bevan, holo-, and alpha-), lignin, pentosans, and ash. Solubilities in 1% sodium hydroxide, hot water, ethanol/benzene, and ether are reported. The data were collected at Forest Products Laboratory (Madison, Wisconsin) from 1927-68 and were previously unpublished. These data include both United States and foreign woods. Previously published data include compositions of woods from Borneo, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and the USSR. Data from more detailed analyses are presented for common temperate-zone woods and include the individual sugar composition (as glucan, xylan, galactan, arabinan, and mannan), uronic anhydride, acetyl, lignin, and ash.