hemicellulose
Sign in to saveA hemicellulose (also known as polyose) is one of a number of heteropolymers (matrix polysaccharides), such as arabinoxylans, present along with cellulose in almost all terrestrial plant cell walls. Cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to hydrolysis. Hemicelluloses are branched, shorter in length than cellulose, and also show a propensity to crystallize. They can be hydrolyzed by dilute acid or base as well as a myriad of hemicellulase enzymes.
Article
13 sectionsContents
- Composition
- Structural comparison to cellulose
- Xylans
- Mannans
- Mixed linkage β-glucans
- Xyloglucans
- Biosynthesis
- Applications
- Natural functions
- Extraction
- See also
- References
- External links
A hemicellulose (also known as polyose) is one of a number of heteropolymers (matrix polysaccharides), such as arabinoxylans, present along with cellulose in almost all terrestrial plant cell walls. Cellulose is crystalline, strong, and resistant to hydrolysis. Hemicelluloses are branched, shorter in length than cellulose, and also show a propensity to crystallize. They can be hydrolyzed by dilute acid or base as well as a myriad of hemicellulase enzymes.
==Composition== Diverse kinds of hemicelluloses are known. Important examples include xylan, glucuronoxylan, arabinoxylan, glucomannan, and xyloglucan.