Degradation of Saccharides with Raw Wood (Larch, Bamboo and Cherry) Particles and Its Application to Separation of Arbutin and Glucose

In this paper, we examined the availability of raw woods as glycolic materials. It was found that some wood materials such as bamboo, larch and cherry could degrade glucose. Glucose is degraded to carbon dioxide via an unknown acidic compound. We then examined whether these wood materials could degrade various sugars. Larch, bamboo and cherry show high degradation rates for glucose, galactose, mannose and sucrose. Disaccharide, sucrose is hydrolyzed to glucose and fructose following glucose consumption. The degradation of saccharides by these raw wood materials may mainly be a result of microorganisms on the woods. Bamboo particles applied to the separation of glycoside, arbutin, and glucose are found to selectively degrade glucose.