Evaluating the prebiotic effect of mannan-oligosaccharides derived from spent coffee grounds.

• Grant number: 23/15075-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Kelly Johana Dussán Medina
• Grantee: Henrique Maziero Fogarin
• Supervisor: Ana Raquel Mendes Ferreira Monteiro Madureira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto (UCP), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/01752-8 - Optimization of the extraction of prebiotic oligosaccharides from acid hydrolysis of spent coffee ground., BP.MS

Abstract

Nowadays, consumers around the world are looking for environmentally friendly products. In order to meet the demands of the market, the chemical, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agro-industries are searching for new sources of raw materials, aiming at the reuse of by-products from the production chain and achieving their zero-waste goal. In this context, the valorization of agro-industrial wastes has been in the spotlight in recent years due to its low-cost material, large production volume and significant potential to produce high value-added products when applied in the biorefinery concept. The spent coffee ground is one of the most generated wastes in Brazil, coming from the consumption of coffee in cafes, restaurants, homes and from the production of instant coffee. Because spent coffee ground is a complex lignocellulosic material, its valorization allows the production of a series of high added value products that can be applied in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food industries, besides reducing the environmental impact caused by its inappropriate disposal. When pretreated with a low concentration of strong inorganic acid, the hemicellulose portion of spent coffee grounds is converted to mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), these oligosaccharides have shown nutraceutical potential as: prebiotic oligosaccharides, anti-inflammatory agent, alleviation of diabetes and sweeteners. Having the potential to fit into food and pharmacological formulas. In this context, this work aims to determine the prebiotic potential of these MOS through bioavailability and bioaccessibility studies in the gastrointestinal tract, the intestinal microbiota growth quantification, the food formula development, and the possible use of the MOS as sweeteners.