摘要：

Developing clean, safe bio-based materials and energy from the most plentiful, renewable biomass resources to replace the traditional material and energy sources is the solution to overcome the future shortage of natural energy resources, worldwide environmental problems that require replacement of petroleum based products, and the demand for healthy food and medicines. This has led to immense interest in the research of polysaccharides, including hemicellulose. Hemicellulose is the second most abundant biopolymer in the plant kingdom after cellulose. It differs from cellulose in the main cell wall constituent. Hemicellulose represents a type of hetero polysaccharide with complex structures containing glucose, xylose, mannose, galactose, arabinose, fucose, glucuronic acid, and galacturonic acid in various amounts depending on the source. The increasing knowledge and the growing willingness to develop new biopolymer-based materials will lead to an increasing application of hemicellulose and its derivatives from sustainable lignocellulosic biomass such as trees, grasses, cereals, herbs, cereal straws, and other plants. The potential for utilizing hemicelluloses is vast, which has been emphasized many times by leading polysaccharide scientists. However, hemicellulose has not yet been applied on an industrial scale. Earlier research activities in the field of hemicellulose were focused on utilizing plant biomass by conversion into sugar, chemicals, and fuel as sources of heat energy. Now, because of their structural varieties and diversities, they are also attractive as biopolymers, which can be utilized in their native and modified forms in various areas, including food and nonfood applications. The potential for utilizing hemicellulose is vast, which has been emphasized many times by leading polysaccharide scientists. However, hemicellulose has not yet been applied on an industrial scale.

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