Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Abstract

Xylooligosaccharides, as non-functional foods, due to their unique properties like non cariogenicity, reduction of pathogenic flora, increase of minerals absorption, low caloric diet foods, etc. are gaining importance in health care and pharmaceutical sectors. In general these could be produced by degradative and constructive pathways. Xylooligosaccharide production using agroindustrial materials by green chemical synthesis assumes importance in the present biotechnological era. Hemicellulose, a cell wall component of plant biomass, consists of non -cellulosic polysaccharides, with xylan and mannan as its main constituents. Enzymatic degradation of biomass leads to production of different non-functional foods. In nature, xylan can be first degraded to oligosaccharides and finally to xylose by xylanase enzyme complex produced by different microorganisms. Keeping this in view, in the present study xylooligosaccharides production from Birchwood xylan has been carried out by using xylanase enzyme produced by various strains of bacteria and fungi isolated from Indian Institute of Chemical Technology campus soil samples. It was noticed that each xylanase complex is unique in nature and produce the different xylooligosaccharides initially which are further catalyzed to simple sugars upon further continuation. The time required for xylooligosaccharides differ with the source of enzyme complex. The reducing sugar analysis by DNS and chromatographic by TLC has shown that among the different sources of xylanases the fungal enzyme produces high amount of reducing sugars mainly xylose than bacterial enzymes. The reducing sugar concentration was increased with increase of reaction time up to complete degradation of xylan. Whereas the bacterial xylanases mainly produced xylooligosaccharides in 10 hrs, after that concentration of xylose increases.

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