Extraction and characterization of original lignin and hemicelluloses from wheat straw

Original lignin and hemicelluloses were sequentially extracted with high yield/purity, using acidic dioxane/water solution and dimethyl sulfoxide, from ball-milled wheat straw. The acidic dioxane lignin fraction is distinguished by high beta-O-4' structures and by low amounts of condensed units (beta-5', 5-5', and beta-1'). Hemicelluloses contain arabinoxylans as the major polysaccharides, which are substituted by alpha-L-arabinofuranose, 4-O-methylglucuronic acid, acetyl group (DS = 0.1), and xylose at O-3 and/or O-2 of xylans. It was found that arabinoxylans form cross-links with lignins through ferulates via ether bonds, glucuronic acid via ester bonds, and arbinose/xylose via both ether and glycosidic bonds, respectively, in the cell walls of wheat straw. Diferulates are also incorporated into cross-links between lignin and hemicelluloses as well as lignification of wheat straw cell walls. The guaiacyl unit is considered to be a significant condensed structural constructor in extracted lignin and a connector between lignin and carbohydrates.