Pyrolytic liquid (bio-oil), produced by pyrolyzing the shell of the palm fruit, was characterized, and its preservative properties were examined using drywood termites (Cryptotermes spp.) and blue stain fungi (Ceratocystis spp.). The yield from shell bio-oil production ranged from 35 to 37 percent relative to the mass of the raw material. The shell bio-oil had the following properties: specific gravity (ranging from 1.0365 to 1.0431), refractive index (ranging from 1.3594 to 1.3613), wood absorption level (ranging from 0.0088 to 0.0625 g/cm3), and retention (ranging from 0.0022 to 0.0141g/cm3). The shell bio-oil also had termicidal activity as shown by drywood termite mortalities: 25 percent between days 3 and 6, 50 percent between days 3 and 20, and 100 percent between days 5 and 49 in termite resilience tests. Using a fluorescence microscope, we demonstrated that the shell bio-oil–treated wood completely inhibited the growth of blue stain fungi on both pine (Pinus merkusii) and Sengon (Paraserianthes falcataria) wood.
Contributor Notes
The authors are, respectively, PhD student, Dept. of Natural Resources Process Engineering, Interdisciplinary Faculty of Sci. and Engineering, Shimane Univ., Matsue, Shimane, Japan (sigit_nonwood@yahoo.com); Professor, Dept. of Plant Crops Product Technol., Faculty of Agric. Technol., Gadjah Mada Univ., Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (pdarmadji@ugm.ac.id); and Professor and Associate Professor, Dept. of Natural Resources Process Engineering, Interdisciplinary Faculty of Sci. and Engineering, Shimane Univ., Matsue, Shimane, Japan (uehara@riko.shimane-u.ac.jp, sadanobu@riko.shimane-u.ac.jp). This paper was received for publication in February 2011. Article no. 11-00017.