Use of differential scanning calorimetry for structural analysis of fungally degraded wood.

This paper assesses the potential use of differential scanning calorimetry for analyzing sound and decayed wood. With sound wood, this method permitted the detection of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin components as discrete peaks of combustion at defined temperatures. Characteristic changes in the calorimetric thermogram of birchwood (temperature of maxima, peak height, and peak area) were obtained from wood samples degraded by the basidiomycetes Fomes fomentarius and Piptoporus betulinus. Additional peaks in the thermograms of white rotted birchwood were assigned to lignin degradation products and to mycelium. Results obtained by the differential scanning calorimetry method are compared with those of chemical determination, with particular emphasis on Klason lignin.