Chemical Composition and Immunohistological Variations of a Growing Bamboo Shoot

Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro) is the most distributed bamboo species in Taiwan, and its newly grown biomass within one growing season is the highest compared to the other local bamboo species. However, little is known about the cell wall chemical composition variations and distributions in Ma bamboo during its growth. In this study, we use chemical analyses along with lignin staining and immunolocalization to characterize the distributions of cell wall components from a Ma bamboo shoot at different growing stages. The results show that lignin, crystalline cellulose, and xylan are preferentially accumulated at later stage of developments. Lignin heterogeneity varies among different growing stages, and their lignins contain significant amounts of acylated p-coumaric acid and ferulic acid. Depositions of xyloglucan in differentiating cell walls are associated with that of pectin and xylan; they might be masked with each other. Galactan and mannan are minor constituents of bamboo shoots, and galactan is potentially masked by other polysaccharides in specific growing stages.