Oligosaccharides production by heterologous expression enzymes: evaluation of functional properties and technical-economic analysis

• Grant number: 22/08607-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Rosana Goldbeck Coelho
• Grantee: Danilo Bueno
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/20630-4 - Biorefinery development integrated to a bioethanol sugar cane plant with zero CO2 emission: routes to convert renewable resources to bio-products and bio-electricity, AP.TEM

Abstract

In the context of biorefinery, lignocellulosic materials represent an important source of raw material for the bioconversion of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin into high value-added products, such as oligosaccharides, bioplastics, briquettes, among others. The production of cello-oligosaccharides (COS) and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) from cellulose and hemicellulose, respectively, presents an intelligent and sustainable alternative for the recovery of lignocellulosic materials that are generated annually as a result of production in the agricultural and industrial sectors. Oligosaccharides have prebiotic activities that favor an improvement in intestinal functions, with immunological, antimicrobial and other benefits to human health. There are several reports in the literature that describe the prebiotic potential of XOS, but the same is not observed for studies involving COS. In this context, the present proposal aims to produce oligosaccharides with prebiotic potential from the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose extracted from banana pseudostem. In a first stage of the study, the production of enzymes (endoxylanase and endoglucanase) expressed in Pichia pastoris will be carried out, which will be used in the production of XOS and COS, successively, with a degree of polymerization (GP) from 2 to 6. Then, the oligosaccharides obtained will be analyzed for their functional properties, such as prebiotic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity as well as cytotoxicity analysis of the oligos produced. Finally, the technical-economic feasibility of the bioprocess will be determined using the SuperPro Designer software version 8.0®, establishing economic performance indicators such as payback time and minimum selling price. This project is directly linked to the FAPESP Thematic Project (2015/20630-4), where one of the objectives is the integrated development of biorefineries in the conversion of renewable resources into high added value bioproducts. It is important to point out that this work has an original and innovative character, since there are no studies in the literature that encompass the integrated production of these functional oligos reporting cytotoxicity tests, as well as emphasizing the technical-economic analysis, which is fundamental to determine the feasibility of the process. It is also important to highlight that the proposed bioprocess employs enzymatic hydrolysis, which is a clean ("eco-friendly") technology that enables the production of functional biomolecules from the sustainable use of agro-industrial waste.