Wood vinegar has a big benefit for food industry as flavor, give the specific aroma and food preservation due to the characters of anti-microbial and anti-oxidant. Therefore, application of wood vinegar is already wider than before that most meal industry in USA used wood vinegar as smoke flavor. Moreover, the application of wood vinegar is also used for fish and vegetables canned, cheese, chili sauce, food snack and mostly food flavor.
The role of wood vinegar as food preservation on meat, fish and other foods has been already applied in America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America. Wood vinegar can be used as food preservation due to anti-microbial contents i.e. acid and its derivates. Phenolic compounds in wood vinegar play a major contribution to anti-bacterial activity. The high concentration of phenolic compound will enhance the inhibition of bacteria growth.
Wood vinegar is a viable source of anti-oxidants compounds which can play a role in food preservation and medical industries. Phenols in wood vinegar are very important plant constituents because of their radical scavenging ability due to their hydroxyl groups. The phenolic content may contribute directly. Phenol has capacity as anti-oxidant so it could be benefit to enhance the length of storage in any products.
Wood vinegar products can be developed as deodorizer, soap, sun screen cream, sterilizing agent, anti-microbial agent for treatment in skin disease such dandruff, anti-allergi and eczema, scabies, atopic dermatitis, and other skin diseases.
Wood vinegar has termiticidal activity against termite worker, Odontotermessp, and pesticidal activity against striped mealy bugs, Ferrisiavirgate. Some studies show that wood vinegar may be a worthy substance for termiticideon excluding termites from wood constructions and other wood products. Besides having termiticidal activity, wood vinegar can inhibit fungal growth against sap staining fungi (Ophiostoma flexuosum, Ophiostoma tetropii, Ophiostoma polonicum and Ophiostomaips.).This study reported that compounds of wood vinegar inhibited fungal growth.
