Analysis of Volatile Compounds and Their Seasonal Changes in Rooms Using Sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) Wood Boards as Interior Materials

Abstract

The evaluation of houses made of wood has been raised again in recent years. For houses made of wood, the odor of the wood is one of the important factors. The volatile compounds released from the wood can change over the year because of large variations in temperature and humidity in Japan with four seasons. In this study, volatile compounds in a room (A-room) using naturally processed sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) wood boards, which were free from chemical processing, and a room (B-room) using chemically processed wood materials, which were comprised of bonded or coated woods, were analyzed by Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) and compared throughout the year. As a result, the amount of sesquiterpenes, which account for most of the volatile compounds of the wood, were found to be higher in summer than in winter in both A-room and B-room. The amount of sesquiterpenes in the A-room was always higher than that in the B-room throughout the year.