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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #428362
Research Project: New Sustainable Processes, Preservation Technologies, and Product Concepts for Specialty Crops and Their Co-Products

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Hydrothermal extraction and characterization of hemicellulose from biomass as a natural emulsifier

Author
item LI, YILIN - Virginia Tech
item JIANG, SHUO - Virginia Tech
item XU, ZHIYUAN - Virginia Tech
item Xu, Yixiang
item YOON, SEUNGHEE - Virginia Tech
item LIU, XUANBO - Virginia Tech
item CHENG, YIFAN - Virginia Tech
item O’KEEFE, SEAN - Virginia Tech
item OGEJO, JACTONE - Virginia Tech
item LIN, FENG - Virginia Tech
item FENG, YIMING - Virginia Tech
item HUANG, HAIBO - Virginia Tech

Submitted to: Food Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/12/2025
Publication Date: 11/23/2025
Citation: Li, Y., Jiang, S., Xu, Z., Xu, Y., Yoon, S., Liu, X., Cheng, Y., O’Keefe, S.F., Ogejo, J., Lin, F., Feng, Y., Huang, H. 2025. Hydrothermal extraction and characterization of hemicellulose from biomass as a natural emulsifier. Food Chemistry. 498(2). Article 147107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.147107.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.147107

Interpretive Summary: Emulsifiers are vital in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Hemicellulose has emerged as a promising emulsifier alternative due to its branching structure and abundant availability. However, the practical application of hemicellulose as an emulsifier remains limited. In this study, we developed a facile and eco-friendly hydrothermal method for efficiently extracting hemicellulose-lignin composite from switchgrass to create high-performance emulsifiers. The extracted hemicellulose was purified and separated into three fractions with different molecular weights, and each was evaluated for emulsifying efficiency in oil-in-water emulsions. The optimal hemicellulose fraction exhibited excellent emulsifying capability comparable to gum arabic and whey protein isolate, two popular natural emulsifiers in the food industry. This study demonstrated hydrothermal treatment as a novel approach to develop hemicellulose-based emulsifiers to support the development of sustainable food ingredients.

Technical Abstract: The purpose of this study is to develop a hydrothermal-based process to produce hemicellulose from biomass with improved emulsifying properties. Switchgrass, a commonly used biomass crop, was employed as a feedstock and underwent hydrothermal treatment at 160 C for hemicellulose extraction. The extracted hemicelluloses were separated into three fractions with varying molecular weights using graded ethanol precipitation. Each hemicellulose fraction was thoroughly characterized for its compositional, structural, and emulsifying properties. The material characterizations demonstrated that the hydrothermal extraction effectively cleaved bonds within fiber matrix and maintained the amphiphilic characteristics of hemicellulose. This, which provides an ideal structure for its use as a natural emulsifier. The results indicate that the pretreating switchgrass to remove non-fibrous components enhances the emulsifying properties of the extracted hemicellulose. Furthermore, the hemicellulose with a high molecular weight demonstrated superior performance compared to that with a low molecular weight. The optimized hemicellulose achieved a high emulsifying activity index of 100.41 m2/g and outstanding emulsifying stability with particle size remaining below 2 µm and uniformly distributed after 21 days.