Damages to wood structures and other cellulosic materials caused by wood destroying insects and fungi are estimated to several billions of dollars each year in the world. Among these, termites are considered as one of the most economically important pests for wooden structures. In the past, several wood protection chemicals like CCA, creosote, lindane or pentachlorophenol have been used. However, even if some of these products are still in use depending of the countries and of their own regulations, most of them have been largely limited in Europe (and Northern America or even banned because of their impact on the environment and the human health. Growing environmental pressures associated to the decrease of fossil resources has contributed to significant changes in the field of wood preservation leading to the research of more environmentally acceptable wood preservation solutions. In this context, products issued from renewable biomass present several advantages: they require less energy to be produced limiting carbon dioxide emissions, biodegradability of biomass make them generally less harmful to the environment. The use of natural products derived from renewable raw materials, replacing chemicals of petrochemical origin, is therefore of growing interest. Some wood species are naturally resistant to termites and fungi attacks, due to the presence of secondary metabolites produced by trees as natural defense system. Dacryodes edulis, also known as African plum tree (En) or Safoutier (Fr), occurs naturally in Gabon, where it is widely used for its fruits. Its wood is reported to present similar properties to African mahogany, but it is still mainly used as firewood, even if it is reported by local populations to be resistant to termites. The tree is also able to exudate oleoresin in response to different stress or injuries. Indeed, exudation is a natural mechanism that plants use to heal their wounds. In addition, some authors consider it to be a protection in response to mechanical lesions or microbial invasion. In this context, the aim of this study was to evaluate the properties of Dacryodes edulis oleoresin as potential anti-termite and fungicide agents to develop more acceptable wood protection systems based on used of bio-pesticides. For this purpose, essential oil was separated from oleoresin using steam distillation with a Clevenger apparatus, while oleoresin was purified using different solvents. Each fraction was analyzed using GC-MS and subjected to different biological tests to evaluate their anti-termite and fungicidal properties.

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