Cereal Polysaccharide analysis for biorefinery operation and development

Understanding the response of functional polysaccharides (predominantly arabinoxylans) to enzyme activity and processing conditions is required as a basis for co-product production in biorefineries, and requires the ability to characterise the polysaccharides at various stages of intactness. Campbell has established facilities and protocols for extracting AX, and IPOS has an established and increasing ability to characterise these polysaccharides. AB Agri wish to access this work and support its further development, particularly on the characterisation side, to inform its evolving biorefinery activities. In the first instance, a proof of concept is needed to demonstrate that the analytical procedures IPOS has developed in a dairy context can be transferred to measure xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) in cereal-derived materials. Secondly, IPOS will extend the range of measureable oligomers to allow the higher oligosaccharides to be quantified. This greater ability to characterise products will be used to inform studies of feedstocks and extraction conditions.