Wood decay is addressed continuously within thewood industry through use and development of wood preservatives.The increasing awareness on the negative effects of many chemicalstowards the environment is causing political restrictions in their useand creating more urgent need for research on green alternatives.This paper discusses some of the possible natural extracts for woodpreserving applications and compares the analytical methodsavailable for testing their behavior and efficiency against decayfungi. The results indicate that natural extracts have interestingchemical constituents that delay fungal growth but vary in efficiencydepending on the chemical concentration and substrate used. Resultsalso suggest that presence and redistribution of preservatives in woodduring exposure trials can be assessed by spectral imaging methodsalthough standardized methods are not available. This studyconcludes that, in addition to the many standard methods available,there is a need to develop new faster methods for screening potentialpreservative formulation while maintaining the comparability andrelevance of results.