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Cellulosic Fiber Gels Prepared from Cell Walls of Maize Hulls

¹Biomaterials Processing Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, USDA, ARS, 1815 N. University Street, Peoria, IL 61604. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ²Corresponding author. E-mail: inglett@ncaur.usda.gov Phone: 309-681-6363. Fax: 309-681-6685.

Cellulosic fiber gel substances were prepared from maize hulls by chemically and physically treating the pericarp cell-wall substrate in a multistage process to disintegrate morphological cellular structure. Thermal alkaline degradation was used with impact shear in the first stage, followed by alkaline peroxidation and shear in the second stage. The degradation products were removed in the liquid supernatants at each stage. The maize fiber gels are characterized by high viscosities and hydration capacities. After drying, they can be reconstituted to the original gel form by using shear forces. The fiber gels were also dried together with hydrophilic materials to more easily reconstitute the gel form. The alkaline-extracted hemicellulose effluents from the fiber gel preparation, including the second stage peroxidized extract, were purified and used as hydrophilic material. Oat flour hydrolyzate, an amylodextrin, also was used as a hydrophilic material. The physical properties of the gels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and rheological evaluations.