Condensed tannins, stilbenes, flavonoids - which one of these (or other) substances causes the almost same color of the heartwood of pines, larch and Douglas fir? Most researchers seem to regard the tannins to be responsible - has this been proven?
A simple search on Google or other search engine will reveal that pines, larch, and firs all contain resin (rosin) and terpenes. There are many articles on the exact chemical composition. The resins impart color to the heart wood. You might find these terms interesting, fat lighter, lighter wood, lighter knot, as it is used by people in southern US for fire starting.
A research conducted by Shuping Wang Arvey in which he studied the "mechanism of Douglas-fir wood staining and how it develops." he mentioned that previous studies found that "dihydroquercetin (DHQ) from the wood can develop a brownish color rapidly through enzymatic oxidation. However, dihydroquercetin has been found more in heartwood than in sapwood (Pew, 1948; Gardner and Barton, 1960)."
The published research can be found in the link below:
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/18331/RedactedArveyShupingWang1994.pdf?sequence=1
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