STEAM EXPLOSION OF PINUS-RADIATA BARK

The steam explosion of Pinus radiata bark has been studied. The effect of time, temperature, and bark moisture content upon water-leachable colour after steam treatment, and upon the extractives, lignin, carboh ydrate, inorganic constituents, and the bark matrix have been examined . The process of steam explosion condensed the tannins and flavonoids to form less-extractable species, whilst generating extractable carboh ydrate material. The yield of water-insoluble bark matrix after steam explosion remained almost constant (80-82% of original material) over the range of treatment conditions examined.