Biosynthesis of xylobiose: a strategic way to enrich the value of oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber

Xylooligosaccharides are functional foods mainly produced during the hydrolysis of xylan by physical, chemical, or enzymatic methods. In this study, production of xylobiose was investigated using oil palm empty fruit bunch fiber (OPEFB) as a source material, by chemical and enzymatic methods. Xylanase-specific xylan hydrolysis followed by xylobiose production was observed. Among different xylanases, xylanase from FXY-1 released maximum xylobiose from pretreated OPEFB fiber, and this fungal strain was identified as Aspergillus terreus and subsequently deposited under the accession Number MTCC- 8661. The imperative role of lignin on xylooligosaccharides enzymatic synthesis was exemplified with the notice of xylobiose production only with delignified material. A maximum 262 mg of xylobiose was produced from 1.0 g of pretreated OPEFB fiber using FXY-1 xylanase (6,200 U/ml) at pH 6.0 and 45° C. At optimized environment, the yield of xylobiose was improved to 78.67 g/100 g (based on xylan in the pretreated OPEFB fiber).