As cellulose and hemicelluloses contain a large number of hydroxyl groups (Pirayesh and Khazaeian, 2012), they are predominantly responsible for the bonding to with polar adhesive polymers (Ayrilmis et al., 2009).
The lower holocellulose content (cellulose and hemicellulose) of the agricultural residues might be a reason why bonding among these particles is restricted, with the consequence of reduced the mechanical properties.
Likewise, water uptake is proportional to the abundancy of free hydroxyl groups (Gwon et al., 2010; Nourbakhsh et al., 2011), meaning that the reduced holocellulose content in the agriculture residues may have resulted in lower water absorption.