Holzforschung 2018; aop Diego C. Silva, Tereza C.M. Pastore, Liz F. Soares, Filipe A.S. de Barros, Maria C.J. Bergo, Vera T.H. Coradin, Alexandre Bahia Gontijo, Mirna Herrera Sosa, Cesar Beltetón Chacón and Jez W.B. Braga* Determination of the country of origin of true mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) wood in five Latin American countries using handheld NIR devices and multivariate data analysis https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2017-0160 Received October 4, 2017; accepted January 31, 2018; previously published online xx Abstract: A rapid and reliable identification of the country of origin of protected timbers is one of the measures for combating illegal logging. Mahogany (Swietenia macro- phylla King) trees are distributed from Mexico to Bolivia and the Brazilian Amazon and are included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been proven to be a promising technique for calibration based and rapid species identifi- cation. There are only a few studies concerning the origin determination of mahogany wood. The present study is dedicated to trace back mahogany wood from Bolivia, Bra- zil, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru by means of two different handheld NIR spectrometers. The spectra were obtained directly from the wood samples, and soft independ- ent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and partial least squares for discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were developed for data evaluation. The SIMCA model was effi- cient and 67–100% and 70–98% of the origins were iden- tified based on the spectral ranges from 1595 to 2396 nm and 950 to 1650 nm, respectively. The best results were obtained by the PLS-DA approach, in which the efficiency rates (EFR) vary from 90 to 100% with both spectrometers. In summary, both instruments were highly effective and are suitable for preliminary identification of the country of origin for mahogany wood. Keywords: discrimination, illegal logging, origin, Swiet- enia macrophylla, tropical wood Introduction Swietenia macrophylla King (big leaf mahogany, mahog- any, caoba or bigleaf mahogany) is recognized as being one of the genuine mahoganies together with Swietenia humilis Zuccarini and Swietenia mahogany (L.) Jacq, species. It is distributed from the tropical part of North and South American forests starting in Mexico and ending in Bolivia and south of the Brazilian Amazon (Pastore et al. 2011; Bergo et al. 2016). Mahogany wood is much sought- after for fine furniture and civil constructions, musical instruments, turnery, carving, veneers and interior trim (da Silva et al. 2013). Its silky, glossy, red brown beauty, workability and moderate decay resistance (Coradin et al. 2009) has made this wood a widely traded and valuable tropical timber worldwide. As a result of extensive selec- tive logging, mahogany is considered as an endangered species and has been included in Appendix II of the Con- vention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to ensure its survival. Selected species are listed in one of the three CITES appen- dices, depending on the potential of extinction (Degen et al. 2013; Dormontt et al. 2015; Nuoniah et al. 2016). The illegal trade of protected species is a serious eco- logical problem (Degen et al. 2013; Dormontt et al. 2015; Soares et al. 2017). In this context, the European Union, the USA, Canada and Australia have implemented rules that oblige the use to seek guarantees that the timber products were originally harvested in a sustainable way and according to the laws of the country of origin (Lowe *Corresponding author: Jez W.B. Braga, Chemistry Institute, University of Brasília, 70910-000 Brasília, DF, Brazil, e-mail: jez@unb.br Diego C. Silva, Liz F. Soares and Filipe A.S. de Barros: Chemistry Institute, University of Brasília, 70910-000 Brasília, DF, Brazil; and Forest Products Laboratory, Brazilian Forest Service, 70818-970 Brasília, DF, Brazil Tereza C.M. Pastore, Vera T.H. Coradin and Alexandre Bahia Gontijo: Forest Products Laboratory, Brazilian Forest Service, 70818-970 Brasília, DF, Brazil Maria C.J. Bergo: Chemistry Institute, University of Brasília, 70910-000 Brasília, DF, Brazil Mirna Herrera Sosa: Facultad de Agronomía, USAC, Guatemala, Guatemala Cesar Beltetón Chacón: Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas – CONAP, Guatemala, Guatemala Brought to you by | The University of Manchester Library Authenticated Download Date | 3/6/18 10:35 PM