Fractionation of bamboo hemicelluloses by graded saturated ammonium sulphate

The hemicelluloses were isolated with 10% KOH at 25°C from dewaxed and delignified bamboo powder. The alkali-soluble hemicelluloses from Sinocalamus affinis were fractionated by ammonium sulphate precipitation method. The bamboo alkali-soluble hemicelluloses yielded seven hemicellulosic fractions obtained at 0, 5, 15, 25, 40, 55, and 70% saturation with ammonium sulphate. It was found that the more branched hemicelluloses were precipitated at higher ammonium sulphate concentrations (55 and 70%), the more linear hemicelluloses were precipitated at lower ammonium sulphate concentrations (0, 5, 15, 25, and 40%). The molecular weights of hemicellulosic fractions become lower from 35,270 (H0) to 18,680 (H70)gmol(-1) with the increasing concentrations of saturated ammonium sulphate from 0 to 70%. Based on the FT-IR, (1)H, (13)C and 2D HSQC NMR studies, the alkali-soluble hemicelluloses were 4-O-methyl-glucuronoarabinoxylans composed of the (1→4)-linked β-d-xylopyranosyl backbone with branches at O-3 of α-L-arabinofuranosyl or at O-2 of 4-O-methyl-α-d-glucuronic acid.