Wood components, gravimetric

Figure 6. A scheme for the gravimetric quantification of the major wood components by preferential solubilization.

Solubility. Solubility-based gravimetric quantification of total cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin has been by far the most commonly used method for determination of the bulk composition of both archaeological and other old woods. These techniques were developed by wood chemists to isolate, characterize, and quantify the major components of sound wood (3). Although the details of the various isolation methods are beyond the scope of this review, the procedures are based on physical isolation via selective solubilizations of other components, followed by weighing of the residue. 

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