Chemical constituents and physical properties of guayule wood and bark

Abstract

About 15 Parthenium species grow in the North American continent with Parthenium argentatum (guayule) as the only species containing harvestable amounts of the rubber latex. The predicted commercialization of the guayule plant for its hypoallergenic latex will result in a significant amount of waste fiber or bagasse biomass that can also be put to use for making wood, paper, and other chemical products, as well as in energy production. Thus, the guayule wood and bark fibers can be considered a new source of plant biomass that may be used as a direct substitute for forest-based wood fiber. However, little information is available on the chemical composition of the wood and bark tissues of guayule ( P. argentatum) . The objectives of this study were to determine the chemical and fiber composition of guayule and to compare it with other wood fiber sources. Three germplasm lines of mature guayule (Cal-6, AZ-101, and G7-15) and another species of Parthenium ( P. tomentosum, PT), juvenile soft maple ( Acer rubrum), a deciduous tree, and milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca L.) that has long fibers were the plant sources. Separate wood and bark tissues were analyzed for hot water, 1% sodium hydroxide, and alcohol–toluene extracts. In addition, the lignin, holocellulose, alpha-cellulose, and pentosan contents were determined. All the chemical components in the wood fibers for the Partheniums were equal to or greater than the juvenile maple tree. Milkweed had higher alpha-cellulose and lower alcohol–toluene extract contents than both the guayule and soft maple. The guayule bark fibers had more chemical extracts than the wood fibers. The specific gravity of guayule wood was greater than the deciduous wood species. However, the fiber lengths of soft maple wood, guayule wood, and milkweed are similar. Based on the chemical composition, P. argentatum and P. tomentosum could serve as raw materials for the paper and chemical industries as well as for energy production.