Lipophilic extractives of the wood and bark from Eucalyptus pellita F. Muell grown in Merauke, Indonesia

Abstract

Lipophilic extractives in the dichloromethane extract from Eucalyptus pellita wood and bark were identified by GC-MS. Of the various morphological parts, the bark samples contain more extractives than wood samples. The largest extractive content was measured in the bark of the top part. Four groups (i.e., free fatty acids, sterols-steroids, triterpenoids, and other compounds) were detected in all parts. Palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acids as well as β-sitosterol dominated among of the lipophilic extractives. Long chain fatty acids were the major lipophilic groups in heartwood. Sterols-steroids were the major components in the bottom and top part of the bark. Conversely, triterpenoids and short chain-fatty acids were the minor components in bottom and top part of the bark. Very long-chain fatty acids (i.e., docosanoic, lignoceric, and hexacosanoic) were also observed. The concentration of certain lipophilic constituents, e.g., stigmast-4-en-3-one, squalene, glycerol, oleic, linoleic, hexacosanoic, and β-sitosterol, was affected by position within the tree in axial and radial directions. The higher concentration of long chain fatty acids in the heartwood as well as sterols-steroids in the bark seems to be clearly disadvantage as far as pitch formation is concerned.