The Determination of Lignin

The determination of lignin is an analysis that is performed routinely for characterizing lignocellulosic material, for assessing the effects of chemical, physical, and biological treatments of wood and pulp, for monitoring effluents in wood processing industries and, in the case of chemical pulps, for estimating bleach chemical requirements. The general approaches followed in this determination, together with their associated procedural variations, have been outlined and thoroughly detailed by several authors (Brauns 1952, Brauns and Brauns 1960, Browning 1967a, Pearl 1967). Therefore, the content of this section is confined mainly to a description and discussion of the preferred and/or widely accepted methods for determining lignin when present in a variety of representative lignified materials.