Non-Destructive Determination of Hemicellulosic Neutral Sugar Composition in Native Wood by Fourier Transform Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract

The feasibility of using FT-Raman spectroscopy for rapid non-destructive determination of hemicellulosic neutral sugar composition, important factors for pulp properties, in native wood was examined using two Eucalyptus species, including samples of various ages and colors, which are important sources of plantation pulpwood. The sugars, glucose, xylose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose and mannose were utilized. The application of 2nd derivatives transformation of Raman spectroscopic data revealed highly significant correlations between wet chemical and Raman predicted values in the calibration (known samples) with correlation coefficients > 0.99, and in the prediction (unknown samples) with correlation coefficients > 0.80 with the exception of rhamnose and mannose. Consequently, this non-destructive method will be valid for analyzing Eucalyptus native wood meal samples, regardless of their age and color to determine hemicellulosic neutral sugar composition except rhamnose and mannose. Elite tree selection based on quality aspects for pulp and paper production can be performed using FT-Raman spectroscopy.