Highly Pure Water-Soluble Aspen Wood Hemicelluloses Derived by Catalytic Peracetic Treatment and Their Antioxidant and Flocculation Activity

The valorization of plant biomass towards high-value chemicals is a global trend aimed at solving the problem of the huge accumulation of lignocellulosic waste. Plant polysaccharides are natural polymers that make up about 20% by weight of biomass, with a unique variety of structures and properties that depend on the type of raw materials and the method of their extraction. In this study, the effect of variability of the oxidative delignification process conditions in the «acetic acid-hydrogen peroxide-water-(NH4)6Mo7O24» on the extraction and properties of aspen (Populus tremula) wood hemicelluloses was investigated for the first time. The developed method for the extraction of hemicelluloses provided the production of water-soluble polysaccharides with a high yield (to 62.55 wt.% about total content in wood), high purity, with a branched structure and active centers on the side chains in the form of uronic acids. During the work, it was found that the obtained hemicelluloses are mainly represented by partially acetylated galactosyl and glucuronoxylan. Promising results of biological studies of the antioxidant and flocculation activity of xylans are promising for using plant polysaccharides in the health care and food industry.