Awareness of the potential role of bacterial decay of wood in water-saturated environments is relatively recent, but has led to great concern that foundation poles under historical buildings in Europe as well as waterlogged archaeological remains are under serious bacterial threat. The evaluation of the degree of degradation is essential in developing stabilisation and/or conservation strategies. Most evaluations of wood degraded by bacteria are based on physical characterization (De Jong, 1977; McConnachie et al., 2008) [1De Jong J. Conservation techniques for old waterlogged wood from Shipwrecks found in the Netherlands Biodeterioration investigation techiques London: Applied Science (1977).  295-338

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références, 2McConnachie G., Eaton R., Jones M. A re-evaluation of the use of maximum moisture content data for assessing the condition of waterlogged archaeological wood E-preservation Sci. 2008 ;  5 : 29-35

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références] or microscopic observations (Grinda, 1997; Klaassen, 2005; Paajanen et al. 1988) [3Grinda M. Some experiences with attack of microorganisms on wooden constructions supporting foundations of houses and bridges, IRG/WP 97-10232  Stockholm: The International Research Group on Wood Preservation (1997). 

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références, 4R. Klaassen, Pattern of decay, density, compression strength and moisture content in: Klaassen, R. (Ed.) Final Report EU-Project, EVK4-CT-2001-00043, 2005, p. 56 and Appendix 2.

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références, 5Paajanen L., Viitanen H. Microbiological degradation of wooden piles in building foundations, IRW/WP/1370  Stockholm: The International Research Group on Wood Preservation (1988). 

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références]. The chemical composition, especially lignin content, is also a good indicator for degree of degradation (Gelbrich et al., 2008; Gelbrich, 2009) [6Gelbrich J., Mai C., Militz H. Chemical changes in wood degraded by bacteria Int. Biodeterioration Biodegradation 2008 ;  61 (1) : 24-32 [cross-ref]

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références, 7J. Gelbrich, Bacterial wood degradation–A study of chemical changes in wood and growth conditions of bacteria, PhD thesis, Department of Wood Biology and Wood Products, University of Goettingen, Sierke Verlag, 2009, p. 155.

Cliquez ici pour aller à la section Références]. These methods are known as destructive analyses and are very time and material consuming. The present study correlated changes in chemistry with the degree of microscopically detectable degradation in order to find new ways in evaluating the degree of bacterial wood degradation. The characterization of waterlogged softwood samples by means of infrared spectroscopy reflects results of chemical analyses but a direct quantitative analysis of wood compounds by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is problematic. Due to the linear regression between lignin content which was determined chemically and the absorbance values of lignin in FTIR spectra a calibration curve could be drawn up. Reversed on this database it was shown that FTIR measurements are practical in evaluating the degree of bacterial degradation in softwood with the advantage of smallest amounts of sample material required, the enhanced rapidity and simplicity of this method.