Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, Institute of Agricultural Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
Eco-friendly Production of Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) from Sugarcane Leaves and Bagasse: A Strategy to Reduce PM2.5 Emissions
Montarop Yamabhaia, Nguyen Cao Cuonga,b, and Dietmar Haltrichc
aMolecular Biotechnology Laboratory, School of Biotechnology, Institute of Agricultural Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
b Faculty of Engineering and Food Technology, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University, Thua Thien Hue 530000, Vietnam
c Food Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Food Science and Technology, BOKU University, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Rising levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) continue to pose serious environmental and public health challenges. In many sugarcane-producing regions, pre-harvest burning of sugarcane leaves is widely practiced to facilitate manual harvesting, and is recognized as a major source of PM2.5 emissions. Sugarcane residues—including sugarcane leaves and bagasse—are, however, rich in xylan and represent promising renewable feedstocks for sustainable valorization. This study presents a green bioprocessing strategy for converting xylan, extracted from sugarcane leaves and bagasse, into high-value functional xylooligosaccharides (XOS) using Bacillus subtilis xylanase (BsXynA11) as an eco-friendly biocatalyst. Xylan fractions were extracted under optimized alkaline conditions and hydrolyzed using our recombinant enzyme. The B. subtilis xylanase efficiently produced XOS of a DP of 2–6 (X2–X6) with minimal monosaccharide formation, demonstrating high catalytic specificity and process efficiency. Structural characterization by HPLC and FTIR confirmed the integrity and functional features of the hydrolysis products.
Beyond their established prebiotic benefits, XOS also exhibit anti-inflammatory activity, supporting their potential use in functional foods, nutraceuticals, and health-promoting formulations. By converting sugarcane residues, which are typically burned, into valuable bioactive products, this enzymatic bioprocess supports circular bioeconomy principles and provides a scientific basis for reducing PM2.5 emissions through biomass valorization. Overall, this work demonstrates the promise of sustainable enzyme-driven processing to transform agricultural wastes while mitigating environmental pollution.
Biography of the presenting author
Montarop Yamabhai is a Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at the School of Biotechnology, Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Thailand. She earned her B.Sc. in Pharmacy with honors from Mahidol University in 1989 and later received a Fulbright pre-doctoral fellowship to conduct research at the University of Minnesota. She completed her Ph.D. in Biology in 1998 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill under a Royal Thai Government Scholarship. She subsequently trained as an NIH-funded postdoctoral researcher at UT Southwestern Medical Center and later as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics.
Prof. Yamabhai joined SUT as faculty and rose through the ranks, becoming Professor of Molecular Biotechnology in 2016. She leads the “Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory” (MY Lab), which comprises two research units focusing on both phage display and enzyme biotechnology. Her research centers on enzyme engineering for industrial use and antibody engineering for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. She served as Chair of the School of Biotechnology (2010–2019), during which the school was ranked “very good” and achieved national recognition. She has published 102 international articles (3235 citations; h-index 30), filed 20 patents, supervised over 30 graduate students, secured ~260 million THB in research funding, and received multiple awards, including Thailand Senior Scholar status. She is a board member of TSB and AFOB.
Presenting author details
Full name: Montarop Yamabhai
Contact number: + 66 892053040
Email: montarop@sut.ac.th; montarop@g.sut.ac.th
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ORCID: 0000-0003-2674-2419
Category: (Oral presentation)