THE CONSTITUTION OF A HEMICELLULOSE FROM SUGAR MAPLE (ACER SACCHARUM)

1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 893-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. E. Timell

Partial hydrolysis of the main hemicellulose constituent of sugar maple (Acersaccharum) has yielded D-xylose, D-galacturonic acid, 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid, and 2-O-(4-O-methyl-α-D-glucosyluronic acid)-D-xylose. Hydrolysis of the fully methylated polysaccharide gave a mixture of 2-O- and 3-O-methyl-D-xylose, 2,3-di-O-methyl-D-xylose, 2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-D-xylose, and 2-O-(2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-α-D-glucosyluronic acid)-3-O-methyl-D-xylose in a mole ratio of 3:111:1:12. The number-average degrees of polymerization of the native and the methylated polysaccharide were 205 and 149, respectively. These data indicate that the hemicellulose is composed of a linear chain of 1,4-linked β-D-xylose residues and that on the average every tenth residue of the chain carries a terminal 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid residue attached through its C2. The structure of the polysaccharide is similar to that of the main hemicellulose component of European beech, white birch, and yellow birch.

1961 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1059-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. N. Jones ◽  
C. B. Purves ◽  
T. E. Timell

A 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan has been isolated in almost quantitative yield from the wood of trembling aspen (Populustretmuloides Michx.) The hemicellulose was electrophoretically homogeneous and had a number-average degree of polymerization of 212. Partial hydrolysis gave D-xylose, galacturonic acid, 4-O-methylglucuronic acid, and 2-O-(4-O-methyl-α-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid)-D-xylopyranose. Methanolysis and hydrolysis of the fully methylated polysaccharide, which contained 108 xylose residues per average molecule, gave 2-O-methylxylose, 2,3-di-O-methyl-D-xylose, 2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-D-xylose, and methyl 2-O-(2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-α-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid) -3-O-methyl-D-xylopyranoside in a mole ratio of 0.2:95:1:11. It is concluded that the hemicellulose contained a linear framework of approximately 200 (1 → 4)-linked β-D-xylopyranose residues and that, on the average, every ninth xylose unit carried a (1 → 2)-linked 4-O-methyl-α-D-glucuronic acid residue directly attached to the xylan backbone. The polysaccharide is evidently similar to the 4-O-methylglucuron-oxylans occurring in the wood of all arborescent angiosperms so far investigated.


1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 922-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Currie ◽  
T. E. Timell

The seed hairs of kapok (Ceibapentandra) on alkaline extraction have yielded a hemicellulose composed of xylose and uronic acid residues. Partial hydrolysis of the polysaccharide gave 2-O-(4-O-methyl-α-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid)-D-xylopyranose, 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid, and, probably, galacturonic acid. Hydrolysis of the fully methylated hemicellulose yielded a mixture of 2-O- and 3-O-methyl-D-xylose, 2,3-di-O-methyl-D-xylose, 2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-D-xylose, and 2-O-(2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-α-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid)-3-O-methyl-D-xylopyranose in a molar ratio of 1.1:38:1:6. The number-average D.P. of the native and the methylated polysaccharides was 177 and 124, respectively. On the basis of this and other evidence it is suggested that the average hemicellulose molecule contains approximately 180 1,4-linked β-D-xylopyranose residues, one eighth of which carry a single terminal side chain of 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid, attached through an α-glycosidic bond to C2 of the xylose. The xylan framework contains, on the average, slightly less than two branching points per macromolecule, most of them probably originating from C3. The number of acid side chains and branches is twice as large as that of the otherwise similar 4-O-methyl glucuronoxylan present in the seed hairs of milkweed floss.


1956 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 338-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Falconer ◽  
G. A. Adams

Partial hydrolysis of hemicellulose B from oat hulls yielded two aldobiouronic acids, which were identified as 2-O-(4-O-methyl-α-D-glucopyruronosyl)-D-xylose and 2-O-(α-D-glucopyruronosyl)-D-xylose respectively. In addition, two aldotriouronic acids were isolated, one yielding on hydrolysis xylose and 4-O-methyl-glucuronic acid, and the other, xylose, galactose, and glucurone.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. C. Jones ◽  
I. Alli

During the spring of 1984 and 1985, white birch (Betulapapyrifera Marsh), sweet birch (B. lenta L), and yellow birch (B. alleghaniensis Britt.) were tapped to determine sap yields and syrup characteristics. These properties were compared with sap yields and syrup produced from sugar maple (Acersaccharum Marsh) and red maple (A. rubrum L). The sap flow seasons were as follows: white birch, 23 days (April 7–29, 1984) and 29 days (April 5 – May 3, 1985); sweet birch, 26 days (1984); yellow birch, 25 days (1985). The sap flow season for the maple species was much earlier than the birch species. Maple sap flow seasons were as follows: sugar maple, 16 days (March 28 – April 12, 1984) and 45 days (March 10 – April 23, 1985); red maple, 44 days (March 11 – April 23, 1985). Sap yields were as follows: white birch, 80.5 L in 1984 (1.0% sap) 51.0 L in 1985 (1.0% sap); sweet birch, 48.0 L in 1984 (0.5% sap); yellow birch, 28.4 L in 1985 (0.5% sap); red maple, 30.6 L in 1985 (2.3% sap); sugar maple, 53.5 L in 1985 (4.5% sap). Sap analyses showed the average total carbohydrate content of all birch saps and all maple saps was 9.2 and 24.5 g/L, respectively. The average sugar contents of the syrups from the birch saps and the maple saps were 302 and 711 g/L, respectively. The average pH of birch and maple saps were similar but the average pH of the syrups obtained from the birch saps was substantially lower than that of the syrups obtained from the maple saps.


1944 ◽  
Vol 22c (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. P. V. Johnson

White and yellow birch trees produced an abundance of sap, but the yield of sugar was on the average only about one-third that of the sugar maple. Results indicate that yellow birch sap contains invert sugar with small amounts of sucrose, and that white birch sap contains a mixture of fructose and invert sugar. Syrups prepared from white and yellow birch saps by concentrating 100 times were similar in taste and appearance to commercial corn syrup.


2003 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Hopkin ◽  
Tim Williams ◽  
Robert Sajan ◽  
John Pedlar ◽  
Cathy Nielsen

Following the 1998 ice storm, tree mortality and crown damage were monitored on permanent plots across eastern Ontario from 1998 until 2001. Conifer species were less damaged than hardwoods. Hardwood tree species showing the greatest crown damage included aspen, (Populus tremuloides), basswood (Tilia americana), and white birch (Betula papyrifera); major species showing the least damage included sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red oak (Quercus rubra) and hickory (Carya spp.). Generally, smaller diameter trees showed less damage than larger diameter trees. Significant mortality was recorded to silver maple (Acer saccharinum), basswood, ash (Fraxinus spp.) and aspen in 1998, although mortality in 2000 and 2001 was about 1–2%. Trees sustaining > 75% crown damage usually died by 2001. Key words: ice storm, ice damage, forest health


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 693
Author(s):  
Holly D. Deighton ◽  
Shaun A. Watmough

Research Highlights: In central Ontario, large quantities of non-industrial wood ash (NIWA) are generated and could be used as a forest soil amendment to counteract soil acidification and base cation depletion caused by decades of acid deposition. Background and Objectives: The properties and biogeochemical responses of NIWA have not been thoroughly explored, and field experiments must be conducted before NIWA can be regulated as a forest soil amendment in Ontario. Materials and Methods: In this study, soil chemistry and sugar maple (Acer saccharum, Marsh.) seedling growth and chemistry were measured in an acidic sugar bush over twelve months following a NIWA field experiment. Plots (2 m by 2 m) were established with sugar maple, white pine (Pinus strobus L.), and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britt.) NIWA treatments applied at rates of 6 Mg ha−1 along with untreated control plots. Results: Ash chemistry varied significantly among species and yellow birch ash generally had much higher metal concentrations compared with other species. Following ash application, significant increases in soil pH and calcium and magnesium concentrations were observed, however the level of response varied by treatment. Foliar concentrations of base cations in sugar maple seedlings significantly increased in ash treatments and there was no significant treatment effect on foliar metal concentrations or seedling growth. In roots and shoots, concentrations of several metals (manganese, aluminum, iron, boron, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, copper, lead, chromium, and nickel) increased after ash application, however response was most pronounced in yellow birch ash. Conclusions: These results suggest that application of NIWA can counteract the lasting effects of acid rain by increasing soil pH and base cation concentrations, as well as increasing sugar maple seedling foliar nutrient concentrations, but ashes from species with high metal contents may also increase metal availability to vegetation, at least in the short-term.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 488-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Lou Lefrançois ◽  
Marilou Beaudet ◽  
Christian Messier

Crown openness (CO) of mature trees influences light transmission within the forest canopy. However, in modeling, this variable is often considered constant within species, and its potential regional variability is ignored. The objective of this study was to evaluate if CO values of yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis Britt.), sugar maple ( Acer saccharum Marsh.), and eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière) vary according to the following factors: (i) species, (ii) regional actual evapotranspiration (AET), (iii) tree size (i.e., diameter at breast height, DBH), and (iv) angle of transmission from zenith. To achieve this, CO was evaluated for 136 yellow birches, 109 sugar maples, and 68 hemlocks from different regions of western Quebec, southern Ontario, and northern Michigan. Results showed that all of the studied factors affected CO. While dominant trees can intercept light laterally as well as vertically, smaller trees are more efficient at intercepting light vertically. Increasing AET is associated with more open crowns. Given its importance in light transmission in the understory, a better understanding of how CO varies between individuals, species, and regions is needed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilou Beaudet ◽  
Christian Messier ◽  
David W Hilbert ◽  
Ernest Lo ◽  
Zhang M Wang ◽  
...  

Leaf-level photosynthetic-light response and plant-level daily carbon gain were estimated for seedlings of moderately shade-tolerant yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton) and shade-tolerant sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) growing in gaps and under a closed canopy in a sugar maple stand at Duchesnay, Que. All three species had a higher photosynthetic capacity (Amax) in the gaps than in shade, but yellow birch and beech responded more markedly than sugar maple to the increase in light availability. The high degree of plasticity observed in beech suggests that the prediction that photosynthetic plasticity should decrease with increasing shade tolerance may not hold when comparisons are made among a few late-successional species. Unit-area daily carbon gain (CA) was significantly higher in the gaps than in shade for all three species, but no significant difference was observed between light environments for plant-level carbon gain (CW). In shade, we found no difference of CA and CW among species. In gaps, beech had a significantly higher CA than sugar maple but similar to that of birch, and birch had a significantly higher CW than maple but similar to that of beech. Sugar maple consistently had lower carbon gains than yellow birch and beech but is nevertheless the dominant species at our study site. These results indicate that although plant-level carbon gain is presumably more closely related to growth and survival of a species than leaf-level photosynthesis, it is still many steps removed from the ecological success of a species.


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