Xylooligosaccharides (XO) is a sugarbased product of lignocellulosic material produced from forestry, agricultural or industrial wastes. They possess a variety of beneficial health properties particularly in prebiotic activities and as food additives. Malaysia produces an abundance of oil palm biomass, in which one of it is empty fruit bunch (EFB). EFB is about 21%-22% of the fresh fruit bunch (FFB). Because of the lignocellulosic nature of EFB containing 65% cellulose, 29.2% lignin, 28.8% hemicelluloses and 3.7% extractive (Chang, 2014), this biomass is potentially suitable for the production of XO. Xylans are the most common hemicellulose (which can be extracted from EFB), and can easily be converted into XO via enzymatic hydrolysis. A technology on continuous extraction of XO from xylan extracted from EFB fibres, in a packed bed column reactor (PBCR) with immobilised xylanase was developed. Enzymes can be immobilised by attaching them to a solid surface. In this technology, sodium alginate is used as a carrier for the xylanase enzyme.

Researcher: Noorshamsiana Abdul Wahab
Email: noorsham@mpob.gov.my