Commercialization of Minor Forest Species Opportunities for Sassafras in Today's Lumber Market
At the OSU, South Centers we are currently in the process of completing a grant project that was funded by the USDA, Forest Service Wood Education and Resource Center. The project focused on the opportunities to commercialize sassafras wood.
The sassafras tree is considered to be minor forest species, or a species that is not commercially important. In reality, sassafras is better known for its medicinal properties than its wood. Historically, sassafras was highly prized by Native Americans and early settlers as a treatment for a variety of ailments. Tonics and elixirs were made from the roots, bark and leaves and used to treat colds, high blood pressure, fever as well as many others.
In addition to its medicinal properties sassafras has been important in the food and cosmetics industry. Oil of sassafras, which is extracted from the bark of the roots, was used as the original flavoring for root beer and also used to flavor candy and chewing gum and to add scent to cosmetics and soap. The oil is no longer used as a flavoring because it contains safrole, a known carcinogen. Additionally, the leaves of the sassafras tree are dried and ground to produce file, which is used as the traditional thickener for Cajun dishes such as gumbo.
Sassafras wood on the other hand has been used locally for the production of furniture and slack cooperage, as well as fencing and small boats, but has not become commercially important. The major reason for this is due to the lack of availability of trees of commercial size. For this project, we examined the current availability of sassafras and its potential lumber yield.
The results of the study show that the majority of the current inventory is below commercial size and the logs produce less high quality lumber than traditional commercial species. While this is a barrier to sassafras becoming commercially important, the development of markets that will be able to utilize lower grade lumber, will lead to developments that will increase the available supply and increase the quality of the lumber.
