Biotechnological use of by-products from the sugarcane industry to obtain enzymes and prebiotics

• Grant number: 25/00868-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Technology
• Principal Investigator: Sabrina Gabardo
• Grantee: Sofia Fidler Fernandes
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of agro-industrial waste in new processes has encouraged the development of biotechnological strategies to obtain new biomolecules. Sugarcane bagasse is the main by-product of the sugarcane industry and is rich in hemicellulose, making it a low-cost alternative source for obtaining enzymes and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS), oligosaccharides that act as prebiotics. In this context, this project aims to study how to obtain xylanase and arabinofuranosidase through solid-state cultivation, and how to use them to produce XOS through the enzymatic method. Three strains of Trichoderma will be evaluated with regard to the production of these enzymes from the by-product of the sugarcane industry, sugarcane bagasse. Next, the influence of process variables, pH (5.5-6.5), temperature (27ºC-33ºC) and spore suspension concentration (106 to 109 per gram of substrate), will be tested in order to optimize the conditions for obtaining xylanase and arabinofuranosidase. The synthesis of XOS will be carried out using the crude enzyme extract and varying the substrate concentration (1% to 5%), using conditions previously established and optimized by our group.