Preliminary Study On Physical And Chemical Composition Of Wild Leucaena leucocephala Species

Leucaena leucocephala, locally known as petai belalang", is widely used in Malaysia as livestock forage, reforestation material, as well as furniture and construction timber. The main objectives of the study are to determine physical properties of Leucaena leucocephala at two (2) different parts and three (3) different portions and to investigate the chemical composition of wild Leucaena leucocephala species at two (2) different parts and three (3) different portions under laboratory conditions. Physical and chemical composition, sampling and preparation of samples for these analyses were carried out according to the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Standards (TAPPI). In physical properties, moisture content and basic density were carried out for every parts and portions of sample. While in chemical composition, Leucaena leucocephala wood was analysed for lignin, holocellullose, a-cellulose and extractives. From the result obtained, it shows that bark and wood in bottom portion have higher lignin percentage which is (31.6%) and (30.3%) respectively. The extractive content showed the highest content in wood (43.7%) and bark (46.5%) at bottom portion. The holocellulose content showed the highest (72.1%) in the wood while the lowest value (68.0%) in the bark at the bottom portion. The highest a-cellulose content showed in wood (41.3%) and bark (34.9%) at bottom portion. For physical properties testing on basic density showed the highest value in both wood and bark at bottom portion. While moisture content showed the highest content in bark at bottom portion which is (56.5%) and (42.1%) in wood at middle portion. This study revealed different parts and portions were affected in both physical and chemical composition of Leucaena leucocephala species.