Effect of the height of the stem on the polysaccharide composition of Pinus brutia (Ten) wood and kraft-pulp

Abstract

The first goal of this study was to determine the polysaccharide composition of Pinus brutia wood and how this composition changes during kraft pulping. The second goal was to determine the effect of the stem height on chemical composition. The content of hemicelluloses was about 280 mg/g at a height of 1.3 m, whereas the content was about 300 mg/g at the top of the stem (4.3 m). The main sugars in the wood of P. brutia were mannose (102 mg/g dw), xylose (69 mg/g dw), and glucose (44 mg/g dw). During kraft pulping, 52% of the total hemicelluloses were degraded. Glucose and xylose were more stable than mannose. The total amounts of cellulose in the wood and in the kraft pulp of P. brutia were determined to be 330 mg/g and 661 mg/g, respectively, at 1.3 m.