Anatomical Characteristics and Fibre Quality of Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) Stem Wood

Abstract

This study investigated the anatomical characteristics and fibre quality for papermaking indices of Vitis vinifera L. (grapevine) stem wood, which is extracted as agricultural waste. Two grapevine trunks were collected from the Gülnar region in Turkey. Observations on microscopic anatomical characteristics were carried out on sectioned and macerated wood samples. According to the measurements conducted, the following mean anatomical characteristics were determined: earlywood vessel tangential diameter 258.81 μm, latewood vessel tangential diameter 35.52 μm, ray width 197.19 μm, ray height 4618.67 μm, vessel length 498.85 μm, fibre length 1.03 mm, fibre diameter 22.05 μm, and fibre wall thickness 4.23 μm. Based on the determined characteristics linked to the fibre quality, the fibres of the grapevine can be placed in Quality Class III for pulp and paper processing. All derived indices of grapevine met the acceptable threshold except for the flexibility ratio. Examining the anatomical structure of the grapevine will enable a database to be created for further studying of wood anatomy and these characteristics can be evaluated with respect to other possible areas of use.