First application of mass spectrometry and gas chromatography in investigation of α-cellulose hydrolysates: The influence of climate changes on glucose molecules in pine tree-rings

We present the first results of the quantitative and qualitative gas chromatographic and isotope ratio mass spectrometric analysis of monosaccharides derived from acid hydrolysis of α-cellulose extracted from annual pine tree-rings. The conifers investigated in this study grew in the Niepolomice Forest in Poland, and the annual rings covered the time span from 1940 to 2000 AD. The main components of the α-cellulose samples were two saccharides: glucose and mannose. The amount of glucose in the annual rings varied between 17 and 44%. The δ¹³C of glucose was found to be less negative than that of α-cellulose and the δ¹⁸O values in glucose were less positive than those in α-cellulose. The content of monosaccharides in the α-cellulose samples has an influence on the isotope fractionation factors. The values of the carbon isotope fractionation factor increase with an increase in the monosaccharides concentration in α-cellulose, while the values of the oxygen isotope fractionation factor decrease with an increase in monosaccharides concentration in α-cellulose. The challenge is to establish, with respect to climate changes and environmental conditions, the significance of the interannual variations in the observed monosaccharide concentration.