The NMR spectroscopic technique of measuring the T1 spin-lattice relaxation times has been investigated for its potential in the detection of microbial decay in wood. The T1 NMR analyses were carried out on samples of Scots pine and European beech that had been exposed to decay and non-decay fungi representing each of the important groups colonising wood. Decay in the test material was also assessed by conventional weight loss methods for direct comparison with the NMR results. The results indicate that this NMR technique may provide a useful tool for the non-destructive evaluation of the molecular changes in wood resulting from fungal decay. Significant differences existed between the results obtained with decay and non-decay organisms allowing the two groups to be differentiated. The T1 relaxation results obtained for beech were more variable with greater scatter in the data groups than those for pine, this probably being due to the greater variation in tissue types in the beech. Further work is in progress on a larger population of material and to extend the study to include a related NMR spin-spin relaxation parameter T2.

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