Mining microbes and developing advanced production platforms for novel enzymes to rapidly unleash xylans’ potential in a scope of products for the consumer market
EnXylaScope will discover novel enzymes for debranching xylan, a highly abundant polymer in plants. Productions systems for these enzymes will be optimised and the enzymes will be applied to produce a debranched (water-insoluble) form of xylan that has properties which make it suitable as ingredients in a scope of consumer products. The debranched xylan will be further modified, using available enzymes, to confer functionalities that expand the range of potential consumer products. In total 3 types of enzymatically modified xylan will be made and will be application tested for 6 consumer products. These product span 3 sectors (cosmetics, personal care, nutraceuticals). Advanced techniques will be used for the discovery, production, and formulation of these enzymes and the project is designed so that maximal research outputs are achieved in the period and that the post-project timeframe for launching these products on the market is significantly reduced.