Course info

The purpose of this course is to provide information on: Introduction to wood products and utilization: Definition, scope and importance of wood products and their utilization, Demand of wood products, Pulp and paper industry. Introduction and raw material; pulping- mechanical, chemical, semi-chemical and semi-mechanical; pulp bleaching; stock preparation and sheet formation; types and grades of paper; manufacture of rayon and other cellulose derived products. Manufacture, properties and uses of Composite wood- plywood, fiberboard, particleboard and hard board. Adhesives types, characteristics, importance and its uses in manufacture of composite wood. Improved wood-definition, types and uses (impregnated wood, heat stabilized wood, compressed wood, and chemically modified wood). Destructive distillation of wood. Saccharification of wood processes and problems. Production of wood molasses, alcohol and yeast. Definition and scope of ethnobotany. Man and biological resource of earth with respect to plants. Terms employed in relation to ethnobotany and its relationship with man and domestic animals. Ethnic - people and their contribution in therapeutic and ethnobotanical knowledge especially with respect to medicinal and allied aspects. Important plants and their folk uses for medicines, food, dyes, tans, etc. Symbolic relationships including mythology mainly from the following families. Clusiaceae, Rosaceae, Malvaceae, Fabaceae, Combretaceae, Apiaceae.Symbolic relationships including mythology mainly from the following families. Rubiaceae, Asteraceae, Ebenaceae, Apocynaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Euphorbiaceae. Symbolic relationships including mythology mainly from the following families. Lauraceae, Palmaceae, Poaceae, Liliaceae, Coniferae, Santalaceae, Thymeliaceae, History, scope, opportcourseies and constraints in the cultivation and utilization of medicinal and aromatic plants in Fiji. Importance, origin, distribution, area, production, climatic and soil requirements, propagation and nursery techniques, planting and aftercare, training and pruning, nutritional and water requirements. Plant protection, harvesting, processing and economics of medicinal and aromatic plants of Fiji. Endangered medicinal and aromatic plants of Fiji and their conservation. Therapeutic and pharmaceutical uses of important species. Study of chemical composition of a few important medicinal and aromatic plants, their extraction and use.