Fungi for pitch reduction and their preparation
AssigneeSandoz Ltd.
InventorsRoberta L. Farrell, Yitzhak Hadar, Philip A. Wendler, Wendy Zimmerman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Ascospores of wood-penetrating, pitch-grading fungi of the class of Ascomycotina and Deuteromycotina, eg. Ophiostromas, may be screened to provide fungi combining the properties of good growth on non-sterile wood substrates and minimized or even enhanced brightness effects for use in pitch reduction of wood substrates, eg. logs and wood chips. A new and improved method of isolating such ascospores involving effective suspension in an oil consumable by the fungus, eg. a vegetable oil, and then treatment of the oil with a dispersing agent is also disclosed.
Claims3
A pulpwood treated with a homokaryotic wood-penetrating, pitch-degrading fungus of the genus Ophiostoma and embodying sufficient natural infestion by heterokaryotic native pulpwood coloring fungi that the brightness of the non-sterilized, untreated pulpwood prior to treatment is reduced by at least 10% compared to the sterilized, untreated pulpwood when each are maintained for comparison at room temperature over the lesser of 14 days or the period during which the pulpwood was fungus-treated, said treated pulpwood having a brightness level at least as great as the brightness level exhibited by said non-sterilized and untreated pulpwood after said non-sterilized, untreated pulpwood was maintained at room temperature for the period during which the pulpwood is fungus-treated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.