Lignocellulosic characterisation of Pinus patula wood from Oaxaca, Mexico

Wood is mainly composed of carbohydrates, lignin, and smaller proportions of extractives and minerals. The products that can be obtained and derived from wood depend directly on its chemical composition. This work aimed to determine the contents of α-cellulose, holocellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and the extractives in ethanol-benzene and ethanol of the wood of six Pinus patula trees. An analysis of variance was performed on the obtained data, followed by a multiple comparison of means (LSD, α = 0.05). The results indicated significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in the chemical compounds among the six trees. On average, P. patula wood contained 67.93% holocellulose, 43.28% α-cellulose, 24.65% hemicellulose, 28.08% lignin, 2.30% ethanol-benzene extractives, 0.32% ethanol extractives, and 2.62% total extractives.