Research Concerning the Development of Red Heartwood and Its Influence on Beech Wood Sorting

Abstract

Red heartwood represents the main anomaly with respect to colour and structure of beech wood, generally coloured in red to brownreddish, situated at the centre of the transversal section of wood, delimitated by darker coloured lines with an irregular contour which does not follow the trajectory of annual rings and, with certain properties different from those of wood. Irrespective of the causes which determine the appearance of red heartwood, its presence at beech logs considerably reduces the value of round wood. The downgrading occurring as a result of the presence of red heartwood can lead to a 40 to 50% decrease in the revenue coming from the valuing of beech round wood irrespective of the sorting system applied.