Evaluation of an efficient fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis strategy to improve production of functional xylooligosaccharides from maize straws

Abstract The present study investigated the production of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) from the xylans extracted from maize straws (XMSs) using the fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis strategy (FBEH). When fed 300 mL of the fresh XMSs with 2 % of the substrate loading and 12 U/g of the enzyme activity at the enzymatic hydrolysis time of 7 h, the yield of XOS was obtained to be 0.67 g/g of XMSs. Characterization analysis indicated that XOS contained typical molecular groups and side chains of oligosaccharides and was mainly composed of xylobiose, xylotriose and xylose. Furthermore, XOS exhibited strong antioxidant capacity in vitro and had a significant inhibition effect on HepG2 cells, indicating that XOS might be potentially used as natural antioxidants and anticancer additives in food or pharmaceutical industry.