hemicellulose
1
8.6
A plant cell wall fiber found in foods like whole grains that some gut bacteria partly break down
- noun
- /ˌhɛmɪˈsɛlʊloʊs/
- Specialized
:
hemicelulosa
- Pretreatment frees the cellulose from hemicellulose, starch, and lignin components.
- hemicellulose and cellulose
Examples
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Another group of molecules are called hemicelluloses, and the third type of molecule in wood are called lignins.
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Biomass is basically ligand, hemicellulose and cellulose.
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The pentose fraction constitutes as much as 40% of the hemicellulose, the majority of which is xylose.
Academic text (2015)
Surface Forms
hemicellulose singular
hemicelluloses plural
Morphology
Etymology
Hemicellulose is made of hemi- meaning 'half', as in hemisphere, and cellulose, the main plant 'cell' fiber. So, hemicellulose is a simpler or 'half' form of cellulose in plant walls, which helps explain why it is part of the fiber we eat and can be used by gut bacteria.