EVALUATION OF SELECTED PLANT OIL EXTRACTS AS PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT ON WOOD SPECIES AGAINST TERMITES INFESTATION

This study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of agricultural based oil extracts from Elaesis guineensis, Vitellaria paradoxa and Azadirachta indica as preservative material against termite attack. Four wood species were used for this study they are; Terminalia superba, Triploxyton sclereloxylon, Gmelina arborea, and Cynometra mannii. Before exposing the treated wood samples to both laboratory and field test, they were oven dried for 24 hours at 1050C, cold soaked for 24 hours and conditioned for 72 hours. The results indicate that absorption of plant oil extracts varied across the different wood species. The value of percentage weight loss for Shea butter oil, T. superba was significantly higher (p≥0.05) and significantly lowers for T. sclereloxylon (p≤0.05). Neem oil treatment, T. superba, G. arborea and C. mannii were not significantly different while for T. sclereloxylon, the value was significantly different (p≥0.05). Palm kernel oil treatment was found to be not significantly different (p≤ 0.05) for T. superba, G. arborea and T. sclereloxylon while C. mannii was found to be significantly higher (p≥0.05).The results of this study demonstrate that the use of agricultural based oil extracts such as Neem oil, Shea Butter oil and Palm kernel oil can be effective in preserving wood and protecting it from termite degradation.