Photochemical colour changes on chestnut wood surface

The aim of this work is to study the surface colour and chemical modifications in chestnut wood samples as a consequence of irradiating in a controlled environment. The changes were investigated by reflectance spectrophotometry in a totally non-invasive modality, and further deepened by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and hyperspectral imaging, in order to obtain forecast models to describe the phenomenon. The statistical elaboration of the data allowed to validate the measurements and to obtain models enabling to relate the investigated parameters; the elaboration of the hyperspectral images by chemometric methods allowed to study the changes in the spectra. A result of great importance is the possibility to correlate the lignin alteration with the colour changes. This result is relevant in the field of cultural heritage and in general in the control processes of wooden materials