Age Variation of Douglas-Fir Bark Chemical Composition

The chemical composition of Douglas-fir bark was analyzed at three stem height levels of trees with different ages from two geographical locations. Cork and phloem in the bark’s rhytidome were analyzed separately at stem bottom: extractives (49.8% and 17.0%, respectively), suberin (30.1% in cork) and hemicelluloses, namely arabinose content (25.3% and. 4.8% of all monomers, respectively). Suberin composition includes α,ω-alkanoic diacids (38.6%), ω-hydroxyalkanoic acids (25.6%), alkanoic acids (18.2%), alkanols (2.2%), and aromatics (8.8%). Bark’s chemical composition is age-related, namely regarding suberin content: at 45, 30 and, 17?years of age, bark contained respectively 25.4%, 2.6%, and 0.9% of suberin; 24.5%, 33.9%, and 29.8% of lignin; and 29.4%, 20.6%, and 25.7% of extractives. This difference is due to the small number of periderms and low cork content in barks with 30 or less years. When aiming at a cork-targeted valorization, the lower stem parts of mature Douglas-fir trees should be considered while the high content of polar extractives at all stem heights allows an overall potential valorization.