Isolation, structural characterization, and potential applications of hemicelluloses from bamboo: a review.

Bamboo is one of the mostly fast growing natural resources and has great potential to be used as a valuable feedstock for biorefinery. The hemicelluloses, next to cellulose, represent a diverse group of polysaccharides in plant cell wall. Elucidation and understanding of the hemicelluloses from bamboo play an important role in the efficient conversion of bamboo into biofuels and bioproducts. This review summarized the recent reports on hemicelluloses from bamboo, including immunohistochemical localization, focused on extraction and purification methods, chemical components, characterization of structural features, as well as physicochemical properties. In addition, attention was also paid to derivatives prepared from bamboo hemicelluloses and to potential applications of bamboo hemicelluloses in a variety of areas such as biomaterials, biofuel, and food.