In 1890, 2 years before the term ^^hemicellulose" was introduced into chemical Uterature by Schulze (12) j^ Allen and ToUens (1) extracted wheat straw with alkali and obtained a product that on hydrolysis afforded ¿-xylose. In 1901 Salkowski (11) extracted wheat straw with boiling 6-percent sodium hydroxide solution and showed that the xylan could be precipitated from the alkaline extract by me...

A cellulose-degrading composite microbial system containing a mixture of microbes was previously shown to demonstrate a high straw-degrading capacity. To estimate its potential utilization as an inoculant to accelerate straw biodegradation after returning straw to the field, two cellulose-degrading composite microbial systems named ADS3 and WSD5 were inoculated into wheat straw-amended soil in ...

Crop straw gasification technologies are the most promising biomass gasification technologies and have great potential to be further developed in China. However, the commercialization development of gasification technology in China is slow. In this paper, the technical reliability and practicability of crop straw gasification technologies, the economic feasibility of gas supply stations, the ec...

Incorporation of plant residues in soil affects N and C content and dynamics. This studydetermined the effects of short-term alternative rice (Oryza sativa L.) residue management on Nmineralization and uptake by rice. Pot and laboratory incubation experiments were established byincorporating 15N-labeled rice straw and rice straw compost in paddy soil. The 15N recovered by riceaveraged 16.6%; mo...

To support the inefficient limitation of long-term biosystem by well-known simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), electron beam irradiated rice straw (at 80 kGy, 1 MeV, and 0.12 mA) was fermented using fungal-based simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (FBSSF) by saprophytic zygomycetes Mucor indicus. Based on the growth optimization (by response surface methodology), th...

Chaffed wheat straw was treated with a seven per cent solution of urea and sealed for three weeks before feeding to sheep. Mature wethers received either this urea-treated straw or straw that had received an equivalent amount of urea mixed in with it at feeding. Both straws were fed either with or without lupins at 200 g/hd/d for seven weeks. DM intake was increased both by the urea treatment a...

As one of themost developed provinces in China, Jiangsu Province has been actively developing bio-energy in order to deal with its electricity supply shortage. By the end of 2010, there are 12 grid-connected strawbased power plants, but only two of them are profitable in this province. This paper presents a simple and detailed method for estimating the cost of straw-based power generation with ...

BACKGROUND Use of bio-based diesel is increasing in Europe. It is currently produced from oilseed crops, but can also be generated from lignocellulosic biomass such as straw. However, removing straw affects soil organic carbon (SOC), with potential consequences for the climate impact of the biofuel. This study assessed the climate impacts and energy balance of biodiesel production from straw us...

BACKGROUND The evidence for culture in non-human animals has been growing incrementally over the past two decades. However, the ability for cumulative cultural evolution, with successive generations building on earlier achievements, in non-human animals remains debated. Faithful social learning of incremental improvements in technique is considered to be a defining feature of human culture, dif...

A regional experiment was conducted at 8 experiment stations, with a total of 320 sows initially, to evaluate the efficacy of adding 13.35% ground wheat straw to a corn-soybean meal gestation diet for 3 successive gestation-lactation (reproductive) cycles compared with sows fed a control diet without straw. A total of 708 litters were farrowed over 3 reproductive cycles. The basal gestation die...