Similarity network fusion for aggregating headspace GC–MS and direct analysis in real time–mass spectrometry data from solid samples to enhance species identification efficiency of high–temperature heated wood

Abstract

Pterocarpus santalinus and Pterocarpus tinctorius are commonly used species of the genus Pterocarpus in the wood trade. Although both of them have been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 2019, it is still critical to identify them in terms of plant taxonomy. Currently, high-temperature heating is an accepted treatment method for high-density wood species such as Pterocarpus to improve dimensional stability and restore previous drying defects partially. It has proved challenging to identify the high-temperature (e.g., 120 °C) heated wood from these two species. Thus, this study approaches species identification of two Pterocarpus of high-temperature (e.g., 120 °C) heated solid wood samples using headspace–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (HS–GC–MS). Besides, a computational analytical method named similarity network fusion (SNF) was proposed to aggregate data in two different types, respectively, derived from the HS–GC–MS and direct analysis in real time–mass spectrometry (DART–MS) to explore the feasibility of improving the efficiency and accuracy of wood species discrimination. The SNF exhibits more significant differences and higher predictive accuracy (100%) between P. santalinus and P. tinctorius than that based on the HS–GC–MS data (77.78%) or DART–MS (66.67%) alone. These results demonstrated the capability of the HS–GC–MS technique in the analysis of high-temperature heated solid wood and the potential of multidimensional or comprehensive data sets based on the SNF algorithm in the field of wood species identification.