Characterization of substituents in xylans from corn cobs and stover

► Xylan structures from corn cobs and stover xylans were studied in detail. ► Alkali extracted stover xylans were more heavily substituted by arabinose and glucuronic acid than cobs xylans. ► Stover xylans seemed to be covalently bound to lignin or non-esterified ferulic acid like structures, which was not that evident for cobs xylans. ► Dilute acid treatment resulted in oligomeric structures, which were highly esterified with O-acetyl and/ or ferulic acid esters.