Valorising side streams of biofuels production

Context

Corncob is a side stream from the ethanol production from maize. This  abundant lignocellulosic biomass waste is rich in xylan, whose highly branched structure decorated with arabinose, acetyl groups, glucuronic and hydroxycinnamic acids poses a challenge for efficient enzymatic hydrolysis. The controlled conversion of this polysaccharide into xylooligosaccharides (XOS) is of great biotechnological interest due to their prebiotic and antioxidant properties.

The Research

This project aims to structurally and chemically characterise xylan from corncob and wheat residues, evaluating combinations of xylanases and arabinofuranosidases from different GH families and auxiliary oxidative LPMOs to produce food and feed prebiotics. The project is part of a long time collaboration between CNAP, the University of Sao Paulo (USP) and Raizen.