Heartwood extracts of naturally durable wood species are often evaluated as alternatives to chemical wood preservatives, but field data from long-term performance testing are lacking. The current study evaluated the long-term (five-year) performance of two non-durable wood species treated with heartwood extracts of either Tectona grandis, Dalbergia sissoo, Cedrus deodara, or Pinus roxburghii alone or combined with linseed oil. Stakes (45.7 × 1.9 × 1.9 cm) and blocks (12.5 × 3.75 × 2.5 cm) cut from the sapwood of cottonwood and southern pine were vacuum-pressure impregnated with the individual heartwood species extract, linseed oil, or a mixture of each individual wood extract and linseed oil. For comparison, solid heartwood stakes and blocks of the wood species used to obtain extracts were also included in the tests. All samples were exposed for five years to decay and termites at a test site in southern Mississippi using ground contact (AWPA E7) and ground proximity (AWPA E26) tests. Results showed that extract-oil mixtures imparted higher termite and decay resistance in cottonwood and southern pine than linseed oil only or the individual heartwood species extract in both tests. However, these treatments were as not effective as to commercially used wood preservatives, copper naphthenate (CuN) or disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) in either test. Moreover, solid heartwood P. roxburghii stakes were completely decayed and attacked by termites after five years in the ground contact test. In contrast, C. deodara stakes were slightly attacked by termites and moderately attacked by decay fungi. However, T. grandis and D. sissoo stakes showed slight to superficial attack by termites and decay fungi in ground contact test. In contrast, T. grandis and D. sissoo blocks showed slight decay fungi attack in above-ground tests. However, termites did not attack T. grandis, D. sissoo, and C. deodara blocks. However, decay fungi moderately attacked C. deodara blocks, and P. roxburghii blocks were severely attacked by decay fungi and termites in the above-ground test.
Keywords: AWPA E26; AWPA E7; Reticulitermes; biodeterioration; decay fungi; field tests; natural compounds; plant oils; wood extracts; wood preservation.