Analysis of Volatile Constituents in Bamboo Leaves Using HS-GC/MS

[Objective] This study aimed to analyze the volatile constituents in bamboo leaves. [Method] The volatile compositions in bamboo leaves were analyzed by headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （HS-GC/MS）, and identified by searching their mass spectra in NIST database. The relative percentages of them were calculated by the GC peak areas. [Result] Fifty-three chemical constituents in bamboo leaves were separated. Among them, the main components were alcohols, ketones and aldehydes, and these compounds contained unsaturated bonds. [Con- clusion] HS-GC/MS was simple and less sample-demanding and can be used for rapid analysis of volatile constituents in bamboo leaves and provide scientific basis for further research and development of bamboo leaves.

Extraction, purification and antioxidant activity of polysaccharides from bamboo leaves

Ultrasonic extraction （UE） was employed for the extraction of bamboo leaf polysaccharides （BLP）. The influential parameters of UE procedure including extraction time, ultrasonic power and solid/liquid ratio were optimized by orthogonal experiments. DEAE-cellulose col- umn chromatography was applied to purify BLP and then the radical scavenging activity of BLP was also evaluated. Optimal extraction con- ditions were： extraction time .of 15 min, ultrasonic power of 300 W, and solid/liquid ratio of 1：15. Four kinds of polysaccharides were obtained by DEAE-cellulose colunm chromatography; the maximum superoxide radical scavenging rate （20.4%） of BLP was inferior to that of vitamin C （Vc, the control） and the hydroxyl radical scavenging rate （50%） was equivalent to that of Vc.

Assessing stand structure in successional stages of dark coniferous forests in western Sichuan, China

Subalpine dark coniferous forests in the western Sichuan Province of China play an important role in the hydrological processes in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Second-growth forests, with different stand successional stages, have developed as a result of logging over the past 50 years. Forest cover and stand structure changed greatly with concomitant degradation of forest ecosystem functions. To understand how the stand structures of the second-growth forests change during the stand succession process, we analyzed stand structure characteristics and an old-growth state index of the bamboo and moss-forest types. We found that stand structure at the young successional stage featured one-third of the structure characteristics of the old-growth dark coniferous forests,while the structure of the medium-aged stage had reached half the structure of the old-growth state. The two forest types were similar in the rate of development at the young successional stage but differed at the medium-aged stage;the moss-forest type had more advanced development than the bamboo-forest type at the medium-aged successional stage.