The effect of paper degradation on uncertainty of determination of initial lignin content

The non-invasive method of determination of lignin content based on measurements of reflectance at 280 nm was evaluated. The application of this method for estimation of the initial content of lignin in degraded samples is problematic due to uncertainty introduced by the degradation processes. The use of the spectroscopic method for non-destructive determination of lignin content is inappropriate, especially for materials with a low content of lignin.