Abstract
In order to study the detailed water extract of wood components in birch under hydrothermal treatment, xylem sap obtained by mechanical compression—squeezing—was analyzed. Comprehensive physical and chemical characteristics of birch log under soaking were investigated in a previous study where limited permeation of soaking water into the log was observed, and glucose and fructose (dominant free monosaccharides in the squeezed sap) were increased during the experiments. In this paper, focus was placed on the effect of treatment time and the water extract of chemical compounds which were not determined in the previous study under controlled laboratory condition using small wood blocks. Laboratory-scale experiments were carried out with vacuum-packed birch blocks heated in water at 70 °C, which is a soaking temperature sometimes used in veneer manufacturing. The squeezed sap was analyzed for acetate, formate, sulfate, and sulfite using ion chromatography, and epicatechin, which is the most abundant phenolic compound in the sap, was determined by gas chromatography analyses with a flame ionization detector following solvent extraction with ethyl acetate. The results indicated that the concentration of free monosaccharides and other organic substances increased proportionally with soaking time, as well as the concentration of carboxylates and sulfur compounds. Epicatechin, on the other hand, was reduced during soaking. It was suspected that nutrients existing in parenchyma cells and the wood cell wall became more squeezable under the treatment due to the structural integrity of the wood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alén R (2000) Structure and chemical composition of wood. In: Stenius P (ed) Forest products chemistry. The Finnish Paper Engineer’s Association and Tappi, Helsinki, pp 11–57
Alonso DM, Gallo JMR, Mellmer MA, Wettstein SG, Dumesic JA (2013) Direct conversion of cellulose to levulinic acid and gamma-valerolactone using solid acid catalysts. Catal Sci Technol 3:927–931
Assor C, Placet V, Chabbert B, Habrant A, Lapierre C, Pollet B, Perré P (2009) Concomitant changes in viscoelastic properties and amorphous polymers during the hydrothermal treatment of hardwood and softwood. J Agric Food Chem 57(15):6830–6837
Borrega M, Nieminen K, Sixta H (2011a) Effects of hot water extraction in a batch reactor on the delignification of birch wood. Bioresources 6:1890–1903
Borrega M, Nieminen K, Sixta H (2011b) Degradation kinetics of the main carbohydrates in birch wood during hot water extraction in a batch reactor at elevated temperatures. Bioresour Technol 102:10724–10732
Buchner P, Takahashi H, Hawkesford MJ (2004) Plant sulphate transporters: co-ordination of uptake, intracellular and long-distance transport. J Exp Bot 55(404):1765–1773
Ciganas N, Raila A (2010) Analysis of heating value variations in stored wood. Engineering for rural development. In: Proceedings of the 9th international scientific conference, Jelgava, Latvia, 27–28 May 2010, pp 186–191
Corporation Shimadzu (2003) TOC-V CPH/CPN & TOC-Control V Software User Manual. Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto
Donovan JL, Luthria DL, Stremple P, Waterhouse AL (1999) Analysis of (+)-catechin, (−)-epicatechin and their 3′- and 4′-O-methylated analogs: a comparison of sensitive methods. J Chromatogr B Biomed Sci Appl 726(1–2):277–283
Fujita M, Harada H (2001) Ultrastructure and formation of wood cell wall. In: Hon DN, Shiraishi N (eds) Wood and cellulosic chemistry, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 1–49
Garrote G, DomõÂnguez H, Parajo J (1999) Hydrothermal processing of lignocellulosic materials. Holz Roh Werkst 57:191–202
Garrote G, Domínguez H, Parajó JC (2001) Study on the deacetylation of hemicelluloses during the hydrothermal processing of Eucalyptus wood. Eur J Wood Prod 59:53–59
Girisuta B, Janssen LPBM, Heeres HJ (2007) Kinetic study on the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose to levulinic acid. Ind Eng Chem Res 46:1696–1708
Gołębiowski M, Maliński E, Szankin M, Marszeniuk M, Paszkiewicz M, Stepnowski P (2010) Determination of catechin and epicatechin in the peel of apple varieties resistant and non-resistant to apple scab. Chem Pap 64(6):729–733
Hiltunen E, Pakkanen TT, Alvila L (2006) Phenolic compounds in silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) wood. Holzforschung 60:519–527
Hiltunen E, Mononen K, Alvila L, Pakkanen TT (2008) Discolouration of birch wood: analysis of extractives from discoloured surface of vacuum-dried European white birch (Betula pubescens) board. Wood Sci Technol 42:103–115
Huber GW, Iborra S, Corma A (2006) Synthesis of transportation fuels from biomass: chemistry, catalysts, and engineering. Chem Rev 106:4044–4098
Ibach RE (2010) Wood handbook, chapter 19: specialty treatments. general technical report FPL-GTR-190. Madison, WI: US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory General Technical Report FPL-GTR-190:19-1-19-16
Irvine GM (1984) The glass transitions of lignin and hemicellulose and their measurement by differential thermal analysis. Tappi 67:118–121
Jokela P, Keskitalo P (1999) Plywood mill water system closure by dissolved air flotation treatment. Water Sci Technol 40:33–41
Kallio H, Ahtonen S (1987) Seasonal-variations of the sugars in birch sap. Food Chem 25:293–304
Kasuga J, Arakawa K, Fujikawa S (2007) High accumulation of soluble sugars in deep supercooling Japanese white birch xylem parenchyma cells. New Phytol 174:569–579
Kuster BFM (1990) 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). A review focussing on its manufacture. Starch-Stärke 42(8):314–321
Lai YZ (2001) Chemical degradation. In: Hon DN, Shiraishi N (eds) Wood and cellulosic chemistry. Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, pp 443–512
Lattanzio V, Cardinali A, Linsalata V (2012) Plant phenolics: a biochemical and physiological perspective. In: Cheynier V, Sarni-Manchado P, Quideau S (eds) Recent advances in polyphenol research, vol 3. Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, pp 1–39
Leschinsky M, Sixta H, Patt R (2009) Detailed mass balances of the autohydrolysis of eucalyptus globulus at 170 °C. BioResources 4:687–703
Leustek T, Saito K (1999) Sulfate transport and assimilation in plants. Plant Physiol 120:637–644
Li N, Taylor LS, Mauer LJ (2011) Degradation kinetics of catechins in green tea powder: effects of temperature and relative humidity. J Agric Food Chem 59(11):6082–6090
Luostarinen K (2006) Relationship of selected cell characteristics and colour of silver birch wood after two different drying process. Wood Mat Sci Eng 1:21–28
Luostarinen K, Möttönen V (2004) Effects of log storage and drying on birch (Betula pendula) wood proanthocyanidin concentration and discoloration. J Wood Sci 50:151–156
Luthria DL, Jones AD, Donovan JL, Waterhouse AL (1997) GC-MS determination of catechin and epicatechin levels in human plasma. J High Resolut Chromatogr 20(11):621–623
Mononen K, Jaaskelainen A, Alvila L, Pakkanen T, Vuorinen T (2005) Chemical changes in silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) wood caused by hydrogen peroxide bleaching and monitored by color measurement (CIELab) and UV-Vis, FTIR and UVRR spectroscopy. Holzforschung 59:381–388
Ozarska B (2003) A manual decorative veneering technology. In: The Timber Veneer Association of Australia. Australian Government Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation. http://www.timberveneer.asn.au/downloads/woodveneer_manual.pdf. Accessed May 2012
Piispanen R, Saranpää P (2004) Seasonal and within-stem variations of neutral lipids in silver birch (Betula pendula) wood. Tree Physiol 24:991–999
Plomion C, Leprovost G, Stokes A (2001) Wood formation in trees. Plant Physiol 127:1513–1523
Porter LJ (1992) Structure and chemical properties of the condensed tannins. In: Hemingway RW, Laks PE (eds) Plant polyphenols. Synthesis, properties, significance. Plenum Press, New York, pp 245–258
Rohumaa A, Antikainen T, Hughes M, Ohlmeyer M (2007) Process factors influencing birch (Betula pendula Roth) veneer surface properties and bond strength development in veneer-based products. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Veneer Processing and Products, Shanghai, pp 131–139
Rohumaa A, Hughes M, Ohlmeyer M (2008) Factors influencing the properties of veneer-based products. In International panel products symposium, pp 57–65
Rohumaa A, Hunt CG, Frihart CR, Saranpää P, Ohlmeyer M, Hughes M (2014) The influence of felling season and log-soaking temperature on the wetting and phenol formaldehyde adhesive bonding characteristics of birch veneer. Holzforschung 68(8):965–970
Saito K (2004) Sulfur assimilatory metabolism. The long and smelling road. Plant Physiol 136(1):2443–2450
Scallet BL, Gardner JH (1945) Formation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from d-glucose in aqueous solution. J Am Chem Soc 67:1934–1935
Schurr U (1998) Xylem sap sampling—new approaches to an old topic. Trends Plant Sci 3:293–298
Sjöström E, Westermark U (1999) Chemical composition of wood and pulps: basic constituents and their distribution. In: Sjostrom E, Alen R (eds) Analytical methods in wood chemistry, pulping, and papermaking. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–19
Sluiter A, Hames B, Ruiz R, Scarlata C, Sluiter J, Templeton D (2006) Determination of sugars, byproducts, and degradation products in liquid fraction process samples. In National Renewable Energy Laboratory. http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy08/42623.pdf. Accessed 26 Jun 2014
Sundqvist B, Karlsson O, Westermark U (2006) Determination of formic-acid and acetic acid concentrations formed during hydrothermal treatment of birch wood and its relation to colour, strength and hardness. Wood Sci Technol 40:549–561
Taiz L, Zeiger E (2010) Plant cells. Plant physiology, 5th edn. Sinauer Associates Inc, Sunderland, pp 1–18
Teleman A, Tenkanen M, Jacobs A, Dahlman O (2002) Characterization of O-acetyl-(4-O-methylglucurono) xylan isolated from birch and beech. Carbohydr Res 337:373–377
Testova L, Chong S, Tenkanen M, Sixta H (2011) Autohydrolysis of birch wood. Holzforschung 65:535–542
Theander O, Nelson DA (1988) Aqueous, high-temperature transformation of carbohydrates relative to utilization of biomass. In: Tipson RS, Horton D (eds) Advances in carbohydrate chemistry and biochemstry. Academic Press Inc., London, pp 273–326
Timell TE (1967) Recent progress in the chemistry of wood hemicelluloses. Wood Sci Technol 1:45–70
Werkelin J, Skrifvars B, Zevenhoven M, Holmbom B, Hupa M (2010) Chemical forms of ash-forming elements in woody biomass fuels. Fuel 89:481–493
Willför S, Sundberg A, Pranovich A, Holmbom B (2005) Polysaccharides in some industrially important hardwood species. Wood Sci Technol 39:601–617
Yamamoto A, Rohumaa A, Kontturi E, Hughes M, Saranpää P, Andberg M, Vuorinen T (2013) Colorimetric behavior and seasonal characteristic of xylem sap obtained by mechanical compression from silver birch (Betula pendula). ACS Sustain Chem Eng 1:1075–1082
Yamamoto A, Rohumaa A, Kontturi E, Hughes M, Vuorinen T (2015) Chemical characteristics of squeezable sap of hydrothermally treated silver birch logs (Betula pendula): effect of treatment time and the quality of the soaking water in pilot scale experiment. Wood Sci Technol 49(2):289–302
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), UPM-Kymmene Wood Oy, Tikkurila Oyj, Stora Enso Timber Oy and Dynea Chemicals Oy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yamamoto, A., Rohumaa, A., Kontturi, E. et al. The chemical characteristics of squeezable sap from silver birch (Betula pendula) logs hydrothermally treated at 70 °C: the effect of treatment time on the concentration of water extracts. Wood Sci Technol 49, 1295–1306 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-015-0758-0
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-015-0758-0