Chemical Methods of Differentiating the Wood of Several Western Conifers

Heartwood samples of four Canadian pines were separated on the basis of their terpenes using gas-liquid chromatography on a macro scale. Pinus banksiana has large amounts of alpha- and beta-pinene; P. contorta contains a large amount of beta-phellandrene; P. banksiana x contorta contains all three in about equal quantities; P. contorta var. latifolia has a lower concentration of beta-phellandrene than P. contorta but has similar amounts of alpha- and beta-pinene and limonene. Several techniques were evaluated for separating Tsuga heterophylla (hemlock) and Abies amabilis (balsam). The Timber Research and Development Association (TRADA) test was only 67-percent accurate when used on 137 mixed samples. Phenolic extracts from the two species were almost identical when separated by two-dimensional paper chromatography. The two species could be separated by gas-liquid chromatographs of steam volatiles. However, the yield of volatiles is low and their preparation very laborious. The species can be separated when their lipophilic materials are analyzed by thin-layer chromatography. A wax mixture was found to be specific for hemlock and manoyl oxide for balsam.

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