Potential of three woody species from the Brazilian Cerrado for pulp and paper production

Abstract

The usage of vegetal fibers coming from the wood of planted forests as a source of cellulose for paper production, has placed Brazil in a prominent position in the worldwide economic scenario, being that one of the best alternatives of value aggregation to this natural material. This research has evaluated the potential of three woody species of occurrence in the Cerrado, a Brazilian Biome, as a source of alternative raw material to alien species, nowadays widely used in Brazil for the pulp and paper industry. Wood radial samples of Cedrela fissilis, Cecropia sp. and Genipa americana with 12 years of age were collected in a peri-urban are of the city of Goiânia, through the non-destructive method, for the study on fiber’s morphology and basic density. With the data obtained it was possible to determine the felting index, coefficient of flexibility, wall fraction and Runkel index, for fibers qualitative evaluation. The careful evaluation of the results – and the detailed comparison with other species – made it possible to affirm that only the wood of Cedrela fissilis and Cecropia sp. had had potential for the proposed objective. Therefore, relevant aspects for the complementation of this research are pointed.