The objective of the literature review is to provide a background to explain how the extent and effect of the juvenile wood core can affect softwood processing with an emphasis on product straightness, stiffness and stability. The principal species considered include Pinus radiata, and southern pines grown in Queensland (P. elliottii and P. caribaea).
The key findings are: juvenile core wood does exhibit different properties to outer wood; there is no agreed scientific definition as to what constitutes the extent of juvenile wood; improving the properties of juvenile wood is more financially beneficial than improving the properties of outer wood; detecting the extent to juvenile wood in a standing tree would be valuable to processors; and much more research is required to quantify the extent of juvenile core wood, particularly with respect to wood properties such as spiral grain, in combination with density and stiffness.
Reference Number:
PN02.1907
