Near‐Infrared Spectra and Chemical Characteristics of Pinus taeda (Loblolly Pine) Wood Chips Biotreated by the White‐Rot Fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora

Abstract

Near‐infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was evaluated as an analytical tool for monitoring changes in Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) induced by the white‐rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora. Intensities of several NIR bands increased with biodegradation time, but a direct correlation between band intensities and biodegradation periods or weight losses due to the biotreatment were not observed. On the other hand, the intensities of NIR bands correlated with properties reflecting the macromolecular characteristics of the components of the biotreated wood samples. Bio‐kraft pulps were also characterized by wet chemical analysis and NIR spectroscopy. In this case, appropriate prediction models related NIR spectral information with the chemical composition of the pulps, r ² values ranged from 0.96 to 0.99.

Keywords:

• Loblolly pine biodegradation
• NIR spectroscopy
• Kraft pulping
• Ceriporiopsis subvermispora

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by FONDECYT, grant number 1020161; Universidad de Concepción, grant number DIUC 201.023.027‐1.0 in Chile; FAPESP, CNPq, and CAPES in Brazil. R. Mendonca and A. Guerra acknowledge fellowships awarded by FAPESP under contract numbers 97/13207‐8 and 97/14639‐1.