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Chinese Angelica is a significant medical plant due to the various therapeutic constituents in its root; whereas the aerial part is considered worthless and often discarded as agricultural waste. In this work, phytochemicals from the stem were first systematically analyzed by means of GC⁻MS after derivatization and HPLC⁻MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Phthalides, ferulic acid, and coniferyl ferulate were detected in the stem; although their content is relatively low in comparison with the root. Some specific compounds, such as p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, 4-hydroxyphenyl-1, 2-ethanediol, thymol-β-d-glucopyranoside, etc. and a significant amount of phytosterols (1.36 mg/g stem, mainly β-sitosterol) were detected in the stem. The extracted oil from the stem contained a considerable amount of phthalides (48.5 mg/g), β-sitosterol (56.21 mg/g), and stigmasterol (14.03 mg/g); no other bioactive compounds were found that could be potentially used as pharmaceuticals or additives to healthcare food.

Wood shortages, environmental pollution and high energy consumption remain major obstacles hindering the development of today’s pulp and paper industry. Energy-saving and environmental friendly pulping processes are still needed, especially for non-woody materials. In this study, soda-oxygen pulping of bagasse was investigated and a successful soda-oxygen pulping process for bagasse at 100 °C was established. The pulping parameters of choice were under active alkali charge of 23%, maximum cooking temperature 100 °C, time hold at maximum temperature 180 min, initial pressure of oxygen 0.6 MPa, MgSO4 charge 0.5%, and de-pithed bagasse consistency 12%. Properties of the resultant pulp were screened yield 60.9%, Kappa number 14, viscosity 766 dm3/kg, and brightness 63.7% ISO. Similar pulps were also obtained at 110 °C or 105 °C with a cooking time of 90 min. Compared with pulps obtained at higher temperatures (115–125 °C), this pulp had higher screened yield, brightness, and acceptable viscosity, while the delignification degree was moderate. These results indicated that soda-oxygen pulping at 100 °C, the lowest cooking temperature reported so far for soda-oxygen pulping, is a suitable process for making chemical pulp from bagasse. Pulping at lower temperature and using oxygen make it an environmental friendly and energy-saving pulping process.