Isolation and characterization of a diferuloyl arabinoxylan hexasaccharide from bamboo shoot cell-walls

Hydrolysis of bamboo shoot cell-walls with Driselase (a fungal enzyme preparation) released a diferuloyl arabinoxylan hexasaccharide. The structure of the diferuloyl oligosaccharide was determined to be 5,5'-di-O-diferul-9,9'-dioyl)-[alpha-L-arabinofuranosyl-(1-- --3)-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1----4)-D-xylopyranose] on the basis of n.m.r. spectroscopy, methylation analysis, and fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry (f.a.b.-m.s.). This is the first reported evidence that arabinoxylans are covalently cross-linked via diferulic acid.