Chestnut wood is one of the most naturally durable Slovenian wood species. According to literature data, the most important factor of chestnut's natural durability is the fact that it contains a high portion of biologically active extractives. In this thesis we wanted to explore the natural durability of sweet chestnut against wood decay fungi. In order to do elucidate this property, samples from the heartwood of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa), of the following dimensions (1 cm x 1.5 cm x 4 cm) were prepared, and exposed to seven different wood decaying fungi, namely the brown rot fungus (Gloeophyllum trabeum), the white pore fungus (Antrodia vaillantii), the oyster fungus (Pleurotus ostreatus), the hairy curtain crust fungus (Stéreum hirsútum), the split gill fungus (Schizophyllum commune), the red cushion hypoxylon fungus (Hypoxylon fragiforme), and the lingzhi or reishi fungus (Ganoderma lucidum). In order to make a comparison, control samples from beech wood and Norway spruce wood were prepared and exposed to the same wood decaying fungi. After twelve weeks of exposure mass loss and moisture content was gravimetrically determined. We have established that the samples from the heartwood of sweet chestnut are completely resistant to wood decaying fungi since the loss of mass as a result of decay the most severe fungi was lower than 5 %. This result clearly supports the classification of chestnut wood into the first durability class, and prove it to be one of the most resistant wood species
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