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Abstract
In order to preserve the polymeric structure and the acetylation degree of extracted galactoglucomannans and, at the same time, achieve high yield, ground spruce wood was subjected to a series of sequential two-stage extractions with an Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) apparatus using plain water at 170°C. The total combined extraction time was one hour in all the extractions. The total yield of the dissolved material after 1 h extraction was almost the same, about 25% of the wood, irrespective of the time ratios between the first and the second extractions. The yield of hemicellulose high polymers with the weight average molar mass of 8–10 kDa during the first extraction had a maximum at 20 min extraction time, amounting to about 7% on dry wood basis, and comprising about half of the total extract. Along with the progress of the extraction, the molar mass of the hemicelluloses decreased and hemicellulose-derived low polymers with the weight average molar mass of 6–2 kDa became dominating. The extracted substances were fractionated, mainly according to their molar mass, by sequential precipitation with ethanol, acetone, and methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). The hemicelluloses with some amount of pectins comprised 83–90% of the precipitated polymeric material and the content of galactoglucomannans was about 80%.