Hemicellulose polysaccharide

The primary structural component of paper is cellulose but non-structural polysaccharides (hemicelluloses) and sometimes lignin may also be present in paper. The physical and mechanical properties of a sheet are, however, in large measure due to the cellulosic fibres. 

Hemicelluloses and Related Polysaccharides. Hemicelluloses [9034-32-6] are a large group of polysaccharides that are associated with cellulose in the primary and secondary cell walls of all higher plants, but otherwise have no relationship to cellulose (2). They are also present in some other plants. 

Understanding the MnP and LiP mechanism is important not only from a fundamental point of view but also because delignification of wood chips leaves behind pulp, the fibrous polysaccharides (hemicellulose and cellulose) that... 

The principal, most widespread storage carbohydrate of seeds is starch. Less frequently, other polysaccharides ( hemicelluloses, amyloids, galacto-mannans) are the major carbohydrate store. Various sugars occur as quantitatively relatively minor reserve components in many species, though in a few cases they are the major carbohydrate. 

A variety of industrial processes are available for hemicellulose recovery in large scale. They can be classified into processes with lignocelluloses as starting materials or pulps as a source for hemicellulose extraction. Of course the hemicellulose source and the recovery process are of major importance for the chemical and physical properties of the recovered polysaccharides. Hemicellulose fractionation from lignified materials mostly yields... 

Hemicellulose [9034-32-6] is the least utilized component of the biomass triad comprising cellulose (qv), lignin (qv), and hemiceUulose. The term was origiaated by Schulze (1) and is used here to distinguish the nonceUulosic polysaccharides of plant cell walls from those that are not part of the wall stmcture. Confusion arises because other hemicellulose definitions based on solvent extraction are often used in the Hterature (2—4). The term polyose is used in Europe to describe these nonceUulosic polysaccharides from wood, whereas hemicellulose is used to describe the alkaline extracts from commercial pulps (4). The quantity of hemicellulose in different sources varies considerably as shown in Table 1. 

Based on the current stage of knowledge, hemicelluloses can be divided into four general classes of structurally different cell-wall polysaccharide types, i.e.,... 

Within the scope of this review, the contributions of the last decade concerning cell-wall polysaccharides isolated from woody and other plant tissues will be reviewed according to the above-proposed classification of hemicelluloses including larch arabinogalactans. The present review article updates and extends previous reviews [3-5] and will focus in particular on new investigated plant sources, isolation methods, structural features, physicochemical and various functional properties of hemicelluloses. Attention will also be paid to the modification of isolated hemicelluloses or hemicellulosic materials and the appHcation possibiUties of hemicelluloses and their derivatives, including their use for the production of composite materials and other biomaterials. 

Xylan-type polysaccharides are the main hemicellulose components of secondary cell walls constituting about 20-30% of the biomass of dicotyl plants (hardwoods and herbaceous plants). In some tissues of monocotyl plants (grasses and cereals) xylans occur up to 50% [6j. Xylans are thus available in huge and replenishable amoimts as by-products from forestry, the agriculture, wood, and pulp and paper industries. Nowadays, xylans of some seaweed represent a novel biopolymer resource [4j. The diversity and complexity of xylans suggest that many useful by-products can be potentially produced and, therefore, these polysaccharides are considered as possible biopolymer raw materials for various exploitations. As a renewable resource, xylans are... 

Glucomannans (GM) and galactoglucomannans (GGM), common constituents of plant cell walls, are the major hemicellulosic components of the secondary cell walls of softwoods, whereas in the secondary cell walls of hardwoods they occur in minor amounts. They are suggested to be present together with xylan and fucogalactoxyloglucan in the primary cell walls of higher plants [192]. These polysaccharides were extensively studied in the 1960s [6,193]. 

During the past decade, MALDI-TOF MS has proven to be an effective tool for the analysis of oligo- and polymeric mannoglucans (for extensive reviews see [222,223]). SEC/MALDI mass spectrometry was employed in the analysis of hemicelluloses isolated by microwave heat-fractionation from spruce and aspen wood [94]. These methods allowed the separation and characterization of the oligo- and polysaccharide fractions derived from the xylan and mannan components of both woods [224]. 

AG type II is most abundant in the heartwood of the genus Larix and occurs as minor, water-soluble components in softwoods. Certain tree parts of western larch (I. occidentalis) were reported to contain up to 35% AG [378]. The polysaccharide is located in the lumen of the tracheids and ray cells. Consequently, it is not a cell-wall component and, by definition, not a true hemicellulose. However, it is commonly classified as such in the field of wood and pulping research. This motivated us to include the larch AG in the review. 

For thousands of years, nature has provided humankind with a large variety of materials for the most diversified applications for its survival, such as food, energy, medicinal products, protection and defense tools, and others. The pharmaceutical industry has benefitted from such diversity of biomaterials and has exploited the use of natural products as sources of both drugs and excipients. One example of a promising biomaterial for pharmaceutical use is xylan, a hemicellulose largely found in nature, being considered the second most abundant polysaccharide after cellulose. 

Kacurakova, M., Capek, P., Sasinkova, V., WeUner, N. Ebringerova, A. (2000). FT-IR study of plant cell wall model compounds pectic polysaccharides and hemicelluloses. Carbohydrate Polymers, Vol. 43,2, (October 2000), pp. (195-203), ISSN 0144-8617... 

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