title: Culm in rice straw as a new source for sugar recovery via enzymatic saccharification.
abstract: Rice straw was manually dissected and two main fractions were recovered: a culm and a leaf sheath/blade fraction, in order to evaluate their potential as feedstocks for the recovery of fermentable sugars. In the case of cv. Koshihikari and Milkyqueen, most soft carbohydrates (SCs: glucose, fructose, sucrose, starch, and beta-1,3-1,4-glucan) were present in the culms, reaching 47.9% and 89.2% of total SCs in the two main fractions. The results also indicated that beta-glucans (cellulose and beta-1,3-1,4-glucan) and xylan in the culms were more susceptible to direct enzymatic attack than those in the leaf sheath/blades. Thus the culm has high potential as a new feedstock for the extraction of fermentable sugars in a concentrated form, as compared to whole rice straw and the leaf sheath/blade. In this study, a novel method of separating a culm from the whole rice straw by means of wind power was also evaluated.
authors.affiliation: National Food Research Institute, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Jeung-yil
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mitsuhiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arakane
authors.forename: Riki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shiroma
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ike
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tokuyasu
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D005285:Fermentation; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors; D014919:Wind; D014990:Xylans / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D002241:Carbohydrates; D014990:Xylans; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin