Fiber quality of second-rotation wood from Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake for pulp and paper productionThe genus Eucalyptus is of great economic importance for the Brazilian forestry sector and has been planted in various regions of Brazil, where the pulp and paper industry are the largest consumer of timber. The genus Eucalyptus is also recognized for its regrowth capacity, which is one of the factors contributing to its large-scale planting. Despite numerous studies on the regrowth quality of this genus, little is known about the quality and technological properties of regrowth wood, such as that of second-rotation trees, particularly for industrial use. Thus, the goal of this study is to evaluate the wood quality of second-rotation trees of two clonal hybrids of Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, aiming at their use in the production of pulp and paper. Two clonal hybrids of Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, approximately five years old, were used. To characterize wood quality, basic density, fiber dimensions, and wood quality indices for pulp and paper production were determined, including the Runkel ratio, wall proportion, Luce’s shape factor, stiffness coefficient, and flexibility coefficient. The wood from the first and second rotations showed similar patterns, especially in Clone 1. The results indicate that the second-rotation wood has the quality required for pulp and paper production.
Keywords
Cellulose; Wood anatomy; Regrouwth wood; Clone