Felled palm trunks are susceptible to fungi as long as their moisture content is above fibre saturation. During this period, palm wood has to be protected against mould and rot fungi. Environmental-friendly organic acids are suitable. Small samples of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) wood were treated with 1 to 10% solutions of acetic acid and propionic acid, respectively, and subsequently infected by moulds, blue-stain and wood-decay fungi. Short dipping of the samples in 2% solutions of both acids protected all samples for two months from colonization and discolouration by Aspergillus niger, Penicillium commune, Mucor sp., and a natural infection. A blue-stain fungus was inhibited by 5% solutions. Decay tests with the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus, the brown-rot species Coniophora puteana and the soft-rot fungus Chaetomium globosum showed that 5 and 10% solutions of both acids reduced degradation.

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