APPLICATION OF NEAR INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY TO THE EXTRACTED WOOD OF A DIVERSE RANGE OF SPECIES

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was applied to fifty-four species (59 samples in total) representing a diverse array of taxonomic affiliations, wood chemistry and physical properties. Acetone and ethanol were used to remove extractives from the wood samples used in this study. The extracted samples were characterized in terms of collapse-free density, microfibril angle and longitudinal modulus of elasticity (estimated using the collapse-free density and X-ray diffraction data obtained from Silvi- Scan-2). NIR spectra were obtained from the radial longitudinal face of each sample and used to generate calibrations for the measured physical properties. Extraction was found to improve the calibration statistics for all properties.