Potential of Wood Hemicelluloses and Their Derivates as Food Ingredients

Abstract

A holistic utilization of all lignocellulosic wood biomass, instead of the current approach of using only the cellulose fraction, is crucial for the efficient, ecological, and economical use of the forest resources. Use of wood constituents in the food and feed sector is a potential way of promoting the global economy. However, industrially established food products utilizing such components are still scarce, with the exception of cellulose derivatives. Hemicelluloses that include xylans and mannans are major constituents of wood. The wood hemicelluloses are structurally similar to hemicelluloses from crops, which are included in our diet, for example, as a part of dietary fibers. Hence, structurally similar wood hemicelluloses have the potential for similar uses. We review the current status and future potential of wood hemicelluloses as food ingredients. We include an inventory of the extraction routes of wood hemicelluloses, their physicochemical properties, and some of their gastrointestinal characteristics, and we also consider the regulatory route that research findings need to follow to be approved for food solutions, as well as the current status of the wood hemicellulose applications on that route.

Exploring carbohydrate extraction from biomass using deep eutectic solvents: Factors and mechanisms

“… 12 , 13 , 14 Hemicellulose is useful for food, dye adsorption, and paper coating. 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 Glucose polymerization can also result in α-amylose and amylopectin (with D-polygalacturonic acid), the former linked through α-1,4-glycosidic bonds and the latter through both α-1,4-glycosidic and α-1,6-glycosidic bonds. These compounds are widely used in food, biomedicine, modern agriculture, and other fields.…”

“… 14 Hemicellulose D-xylopyranose 4-O-menthyl-D-glucuronopyranose L-arabinofuranose α-1, 2-GB α-1, 3-GB β-1, 4-GB Food ingredients Abik et al. 15 Adsorbing acid dyes Zhang et al. 16 Supercapacitor Wang et al.…”