Assessing Trametes pini infection in Atlas cedar trees: Findings from acoustic tomography and biopolymer analysis

Cedrus atlantica Manetti is an Indigenous species of Moroccan Rif and the Middle Atlas represents 2.3 % of Morocco's forest cover and is highly prized for its wood quality. However, it is susceptible to fungal attacks, particularly by Trametes pini (M'jej), which causes rot and renders the wood unusable. This leads to significant financial losses, exceeding 30 %. The purpose of the study was to use Arbotom tomography equipment to measure the degree of Trametes pini infection to evaluate the health of the trees. To delineate changes in the affected biopolymers, morphological and elemental investigations were conducted using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and infrared vibrational spectroscopy (IR). Furthermore, inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) analysis was employed to accurately quantify the mineral composition in the wood specimens. The results indicated a robust correlation between the visually observed degradation in tree parts and the degradation quantified through tomography. For samples from degraded trees, the accuracy rate was 100 %, emphasizing the impact of fungi on lignocellulosic materials by altering the cellulose content, which was 37.00 ± 1.41 % for healthy wood and 8.00 ± 3.26 % for infected wood. There was also a modification in the hemicellulose content, increasing from 15.67 ± 0.94 % for healthy wood to 62.00 ± 3.56 % for infected Atlas cedar wood. Additionally, there was a modification in the mineral content. This study unveils the parallels and distinctions in the chemical composition and morphological structure between cedar wood and its biowaste. These findings open avenues for prospective value-added applications in pertinent fields.