The Extraneous Components of Western Red Cedar

The extraneous components of western redcedar, which frequently exceed 20 percent of the wood weight, consist of the volatile components: alpha, beta, and gamma thujaplicin, 7-hydroxy-4-isopropyltropolone, thujic acid, and methyl thujate; and the non-volatile components: arabinose, an unidentified sterol, and several uncharacterized phenols. The tropolone derivatives and the phenols account for the high natural decay resistance of the species. They also account for the digester corrosion encountered in the sulfate pulping of cedar and the staining reactions which the wood is subject to in association with steel. Methyl thujate is mainly responsible for the characteristic smell of cedar.

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