Bark Beetle-Attacked and Wind-Damaged Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) Trees as a Potential Raw Material for Extractives Recovery

Bark beetle infestations and other natural disturbances have increasingly affected Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) forests across Europe resulting in devaluation and decreased applicability of woody biomass of such trees. The aim of this research was to investigate the extractive content of bark beetle-attacked and dead wind-damaged Norway spruce trees relative to healthy trees, in order to assess their potential for extractives recovery. After harvesting, three discs were dissected along the stem height of each tree, and samples of sapwood, heartwood, knots, and bark were collected. Sequential extraction of the samples was performed using cyclohexane and acetone–water mixture in an accelerated solvent extractor. Lipophilic and hydrophilic extractives were determined gravimetrically, while total phenols and proanthocyanidins were measured by UV–Vis spectrophotometry. Results showed that knotwood contained the highest amounts of hydrophilic extractives and total phenols among investigated tissues. Knots of healthy trees contained the highest amount of hydrophilic extractives (52.4% w w−1), while knots of dead wind-damaged trees contained significantly higher content of total phenols (8.8% w w−1). The total phenols in bark beetle-attacked and healthy trees were 7.1% w w−1 and 7.2% w w−1, respectively. The sapwood and heartwood of dead wind-damaged trees had higher content of hydrophilic extractives (3.4% and 2.3% w w−1) than healthy and bark beetle-attacked trees. Bark from healthy trees contained more total phenols (2.7% w w−1) than bark of bark beetle-attacked trees, while proanthocyanidin contents in bark were comparable among three groups of trees. Our findings revealed that woody biomass from bark beetle-attacked and dead wind-damaged Norway spruce trees contains significant levels of phenolics, indicating high potential for extracting valuable compounds in biorefineries.