Effectiveness of <i>Azadirachta indica</i> A. Juss (Neem) Seed Oil in Controlling Wood Termite

Abstract

The protection of wood against biodeteriorating agents like termite during processing or in service has call for serious possible approach using new safer, environmental friendly preservatives hence this study therefore evaluated Azadirachta indica seed oil against termite attack on Gmelina arborea and Triplochiton scleroxylon wood. The seed oil was obtained using a soxhlet apparatus and N-hexane as the solvent. The wood was dimensioned into 20x20x20 mm and the seed oil was applied by brushing, dipping and soaking and exposed to termitarium while the absorption rate and weight loss to termite attack were determined. Data collected was analyzed using simple statistics and analysis of variance at α0.05. The antimicrobial properties of the need seed oil are due to the availability of phytochemicals which promote antimicrobial activity. The maximum wood protection against termite of all the methods of application was obtained from soaking. The absorption and weight loss ranged from 11.20 - 43.88 % and 56.50 -61.58 % for G. arborea and T. scleroxylon respectively. However, all the application methods used for the wood treatment proved to be effective over the untreated wood.&#x0D; Keywords: phytochemicals, seed oil, wood species, wood preservation, wood termite

Treatment of Delonix regia wood with castor oil (Ricinus communis) protects it against white and brown rot fungi

“…The absorption rate also shows that wood blocks absorbed the oil extract differently at varying concentrations indicating that the wood samples were easily impregnated with castor seed oil extract due to the low viscosity of the extract influenced by viscosity of the diluents, a result which agrees with the work of Adetogun (2011) while evaluating Cashew nut Shell Liquid Incorporated with Sodium Chloride (Table Salt) as Fungicide against Wood Decay. The mean absorption rate values were observed to be significantly different from each other as it increases with increase in concentration level The result obtained also agrees with the findings of Okanlawon et al, (2020b) who reported that absorption depends on the method of application, viscosity, soaking period and the level of concentration of the preservative. Mean with the same alphabet in each column are not significantly different from each other at α = 0.05.…”