Uma visão sobre a estrutura, composição e biodegradação da madeira A vision of wood structure, composition and biodegradation

• Main Authors: Walter Carvalho, Larissa Canilha, André Ferraz, Adriane Maria Ferreira Milagres
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Química 2009-01-01
• Series: Química Nova
• Subjects: cellulose; hemicellulose; lignin
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-40422009000800033

<abstract language="eng">Wood is the main raw material used in the pulp and paper industry. It is a material that presents heterogeneous structure and complex composition, which results in a relatively resistant material to the biodegradation process. In the present review, we attempted to summarize the structural characteristics of wood and describe the chemical nature of its major components to, afterwards, comment about its biodegradation. The role of the enzyme manganese peroxidase in the lignin degradation by a selective white-rot fungus, Ceriporiopsis subvermispora, was highlighted.