Radial variation in cell morphology of Melia azedarach planted in northern Vietnam

Doan Van Duong,Tai Tien Dinh,Chu Van Tran,Laurence Schimleck

doi:10.4067/s0718-221x2021000100407

Abstract

The radial variation in cell morphology of ten-year-old Melia azedarach trees planted in northern Vietnam was experimentally investigated. The earlywood fiber lumen diameter and latewood fiber lumen diameter were almost unchanged from pith to 6th ring before significantly decreasing and remaining constant from 7th ring outwards. In contrast, fiber cell wall thickness in both earlywood and latewood increased from pith to 7th ring before becoming stable towards the bark. The maturation age of earlywood vessel lumen diameter estimated by segmented regression analysis indicated that wood of the Melia azedarach could be classified into core wood and outer wood, and the boundary between core and outer wood may be located at 7th ring from pith. This should be taken into account in wood processing using M. azedarach grown in northern Vietnam

Highlights

Melia azedarach belongs to the Meliaceae family which produces many well-known timber trees such as Swietenia macrophylla King and Cedrela odorata L. in South America and Africa; and Entandrophragma utile (Dawe & Sprague) Sprague and Entandrophragma cylindricum Harms in tropical Africa
The overall value of wood specific gravity (SG) was 0,52 varying between trees from 0,51 to 0,54 and this finding is in agreement with our previous work (Duong et al 2017), in which we showed that wood SG values of 17 to 19-year-old M. azedarach planted in northern Vietnam ranged from 0,52 to 0,57 between trees
The obtained result is comparable with those reported by Duong et al (2017) showing that wood of M. azedarach beyond ring number 7 from pith had comparatively long fibers, high SG, and low microfibril angle (MFA) in the S2 layer of fiber cell walls. These findings suggest that wood of the M. azedarach could be classified into core wood and outer wood based on earlywood vessel lumen diameter (EVLD), and the boundary between core and outer wood may be located at 7th ring from pith

Summary

Introduction

Melia azedarach belongs to the Meliaceae family which produces many well-known timber trees such as Swietenia macrophylla King and Cedrela odorata L. in South America and Africa; and Entandrophragma utile (Dawe & Sprague) Sprague and Entandrophragma cylindricum Harms in tropical Africa. M. azedarach is native to northern Australia and Himalaya region of Asia, and is naturalized in most subtropical and tropical regions of the world (Venson et al 2008, Duong et al 2017). Owing to the value of wood from other members of the Meliaceae, M. azedarach has recently received considerable attention given its relatively fine grain, durability, resistance to termites and insects, and ease of working (Duong 2018). M. azedarach, has become an important plantation species in Vietnam; further research is needed for effective utilization of wood from this species, such as the production of structural lumber

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Conclusion