Occurrence of iron-reducing compounds in biodelignified “palo podrido” wood samples

Palo podrido (literally, rotted log) and iron chelating compounds associated with it were characterized. Field-collected samples taken from palo podrido were sorted visually into three groups representing early, and two stages of advanced delignification (termed as EDS, ADS1 and ADS2, respectively). Lignin contents in these samples were 22.3%, 5.1% and 4.6%, respectively. Ethyl acetate extracts from ADS1 and ADS2 samples contained several aromatic carboxylic acids. Dihydroxyterephtalic acid was detected as the major compound in ADS1 extract and was found at low concentrations in ADS2 extract. Only the ADS1 extract exhibited a significant iron reduction activity, reducing 3.1% of an initial 500 μMFe3+ solution after the first minute of reaction. After 10 min reaction, 9.5% of the initial Fe3+ was reduced. Reduction activity expressed on the basis of extracted dry mass of ADS1 was 12.5 μmol of Fe3+ reduced/min/kg of dry wood.