The Study on Cell Collapse and Recovery of Eucalyptus urophylla during Drying

Abstract

To explore the collapse of eucalyptus wood cells during the drying process, continuous and intermittent drying were carried out on Eucalyptus urophylla. The shrinkage throughout the intermittent drying process was less than that of continuous drying. According to observations of cells made using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), there was a large difference in the degree of cell collapse between continuous and intermittent drying. Severe cell collapse was observed after freeze-drying at high moisture content, even after an intermittent drying process. It is clear that collapse recovery via intermittent drying was more extensive than in continuous drying. In particular, ray parenchyma and axial parenchyma recovered from collapse more than did wood fibers.