Journal of Global Agriculture and Ecology

Arjuna (Terminalia arjuna) is a highly traded medicinal tree whose bark is widely used as a medicinal raw material. Sustainable utilisation requires an understanding of whether regenerated bark differs from original bark in physical and anatomical properties. This study compared original bark collected in February 2023 with one-year regenerated bark harvested from the same marked strips in February 2024 on ten mature trees at Navsari Agricultural University, Gujarat. Fresh weight, bark thickness, basic density, moisture content, and volumetric shrinkage were assessed, together with ray and fibre dimensions. Original bark had significantly greater fresh weight and thickness than regenerated bark, whereas basic density, moisture content, and volumetric shrinkage did not differ significantly. Original bark was characterised mainly by uniseriate rays with a few biseriate rays. In regenerated bark, rays were mainly multiseriate or aggregate towards the phelloderm and became uniseriate or biseriate near the sapwood. Fibre length was significantly greater in original bark, while ray width was significantly greater in regenerated bark. Fibre width, fibre lumen width, fibre cell-wall thickness, and ray height did not differ significantly between bark types. These findings show that original and regenerated Arjuna bark can be distinguished using selected physical and anatomical attributes. The observed recovery also supports the potential for sustainable bark harvesting, although longer-term assessment is required before repeated harvesting intervals can be defined.