Fiber analyses of plants, grains, feed and biomass used for biorefinement

Plant cell walls are composed of fibers. The fibers of the plant cell walls are β-glucans, pectins and gums, hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin compounds. The insoluble fraction, also called insoluble dietary fiber (a term also used in human nutrition), is the combination of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin and its compounds. Quantifying these different insoluble dietary fiber fractions is important for researchers focusing on nutrition (human, animal, insect), biomass waste refinement, or even soil carbon dynamics. The requested equipment can automatically determine these insoluble fiber fractions in plant material. This equipment is requested by 8 different labs from 3 departments (Department of Biosystems, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences) of the campuses in Heverlee and Geel.

Keywords:cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, fibers in plants and feed

Disciplines:Agricultural animal nutrition, Crop science, Wood and forest biomass processing