Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions

Wood color is an important factor influencing the aesthetic and commercial value of timber products. This study aimed to clarify the natural color variation in Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) wood and its relation to anatomical structure and environmental conditions. Samples were collected fr...

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Main Authors: Uğur Özkan, Burak Koparan, Şerife Kalkanlı Genç, Candan Kuş Şahin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: North Carolina State University 2025-07-01
Series:BioResources
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Online Access:https://ojs.bioresources.com/index.php/BRJ/article/view/24812
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author Uğur Özkan
Burak Koparan
Şerife Kalkanlı Genç
Candan Kuş Şahin
author_facet Uğur Özkan
Burak Koparan
Şerife Kalkanlı Genç
Candan Kuş Şahin
author_sort Uğur Özkan
collection DOAJ
description Wood color is an important factor influencing the aesthetic and commercial value of timber products. This study aimed to clarify the natural color variation in Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) wood and its relation to anatomical structure and environmental conditions. Samples were collected from two regions in Türkiye (Kaş and Senirkent), differing in elevation and climate. Stem sections from four trees per region were analyzed by separating the pith, heartwood, and sapwood. Color properties were measured using a spectrophotometer in the CIE L*a*b* color space, resulting in 2670 data points. The results showed that sapwood exhibited the highest lightness values (L*), with averages of 65.3 in Kaş and 65.8 in Senirkent, while pith displayed the lowest lightness (59.4 in Kaş, 61.6 in Senirkent). Total color differences (ΔE) between anatomical parts frequently exceeded the perceptible threshold (ΔE > 3), reaching up to 16.7 in the pith and 14.9 in the heartwood of some samples. Moreover, Kaş samples generally exhibited greater color variability than Senirkent, with average ΔE values of 13.4 (pith), 12.6 (heartwood), and 7.0 (sapwood), compared to 9.43, 10.57, and 6.14 in Senirkent, respectively. These findings highlight the combined influence of anatomical and environmental factors on wood color and provide insights for selecting timber for aesthetic purposes and enhancing visual quality in forest management.
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spelling doaj-art-41b16bca2d534905a66bcbb87adf18092025-08-04T19:56:35ZengNorth Carolina State UniversityBioResources1930-21262025-07-01203727872923158Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean RegionsUğur Özkan0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0147-9976Burak Koparan1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1467-9638Şerife Kalkanlı Genç2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1388-1877Candan Kuş Şahin3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0413-2380Department of Forest Products Engineering, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32200, Isparta, TürkiyeDepartment of Forest Engineering, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32200, Isparta, TürkiyeDepartment of Forest Engineering, Isparta University of Applied Sciences, 32200, Isparta, TürkiyeDepartment of Landscape Architecture, Süleyman Demirel University, 32200, Isparta, TürkiyeWood color is an important factor influencing the aesthetic and commercial value of timber products. This study aimed to clarify the natural color variation in Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) wood and its relation to anatomical structure and environmental conditions. Samples were collected from two regions in Türkiye (Kaş and Senirkent), differing in elevation and climate. Stem sections from four trees per region were analyzed by separating the pith, heartwood, and sapwood. Color properties were measured using a spectrophotometer in the CIE L*a*b* color space, resulting in 2670 data points. The results showed that sapwood exhibited the highest lightness values (L*), with averages of 65.3 in Kaş and 65.8 in Senirkent, while pith displayed the lowest lightness (59.4 in Kaş, 61.6 in Senirkent). Total color differences (ΔE) between anatomical parts frequently exceeded the perceptible threshold (ΔE > 3), reaching up to 16.7 in the pith and 14.9 in the heartwood of some samples. Moreover, Kaş samples generally exhibited greater color variability than Senirkent, with average ΔE values of 13.4 (pith), 12.6 (heartwood), and 7.0 (sapwood), compared to 9.43, 10.57, and 6.14 in Senirkent, respectively. These findings highlight the combined influence of anatomical and environmental factors on wood color and provide insights for selecting timber for aesthetic purposes and enhancing visual quality in forest management.https://ojs.bioresources.com/index.php/BRJ/article/view/24812wood coloranatomical variationenvironmental factorspithheartwoodsapwood
spellingShingle Uğur Özkan
Burak Koparan
Şerife Kalkanlı Genç
Candan Kuş Şahin
Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
BioResources
wood color
anatomical variation
environmental factors
pith
heartwood
sapwood
title Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
title_full Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
title_fullStr Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
title_full_unstemmed Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
title_short Wood Color Variation in Anatomical Sections of Cedrus libani from Two Mediterranean Regions
title_sort wood color variation in anatomical sections of cedrus libani from two mediterranean regions
topic wood color
anatomical variation
environmental factors
pith
heartwood
sapwood
url https://ojs.bioresources.com/index.php/BRJ/article/view/24812
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AT burakkoparan woodcolorvariationinanatomicalsectionsofcedruslibanifromtwomediterraneanregions
AT serifekalkanlıgenc woodcolorvariationinanatomicalsectionsofcedruslibanifromtwomediterraneanregions
AT candankussahin woodcolorvariationinanatomicalsectionsofcedruslibanifromtwomediterraneanregions