Index >>Mineral Transformation in Soil >>Hemicellulose Decomposition

Hemicellulose Decomposition - Hemicelluloses are polymers of simple sugars such as pentoses, hexoses and uronic acid. They may be either homo or hetero polymers. When plant material is added to the soil, the degradation of hemicelluloses initially occurs at a fast rate. The hemicelluloses such as mannans (polymer of mannose) are decomposed rapidly, while galactans (polymer of galactose) are decomposed slowly.