Study on chemical composition and Of hardwood And softwood of selected Malaysian timber species

In this study, the chemical composition of hardwood timber Dyera Costulata and softwood timber Agathis borneensis was investigated.The wood samples were grinded. The sampling and the preparation of wood for analysis was performed according to TAPP1 T257 cm-02 (Sampling and preparing wood for analysis; 2002), and the preparation of wood for chemical analysis was performed according TAPPI 264 cm-97(Sampling and preparing wood for chemical analysis 1997). Extractive components were determined according to method TAPPI T 204 cm 97 with a modification of the ethanol-toluene ratio of the solvent to 2:1. Composition assessment showed that hardwood species Dyera costulata has higher cellulose composition than softwood species Agathis borneensis whereas Agathis borneensis has higher lignin composition than hardwood Dyera costulata. These differences between the chemical compositions are due to the difference of structure between hardwood and softwood and also because of the presence of specialized conducting cells. The high presence of cellulose in hardwood species justifies that hardwood species are stronger and has high strength compare to softwood species. Every tree species has different anatomy and this relates to the different chemical composition between hardwood and softwood species.