Levoglucosan as an Indicator of Biomass Burning from Selected Tropical Plants

South East Asia has been recognized as one of the region most affected by atmospheric haze from biomass burning and the combustion of various plants. The distribution of atmospheric aerosols from biomass burning itself can be determined through the level of levoglucosan found in the atmosphere. In this study, the amount of levoglucosan produced by five selected tropical plants after combustion processes was determined using the modified anthrone-sulfuric colorimetric method. The results showed that the concentration of levoglucosan in the plant soot (after combustion) ranged from between 0.49 ± 0.28 mg/g to 10.51 ± 4.47 mg/g. Among the five plants, Oryza sativa was found to have the highest levoglucosan content and the amount of levoglucosan produced by biomass burning was found to be influenced by the photo oxidation processes e.g. by ultra violet radiation and ozonization.