Magister Scientiae - MSc (Biotechnology)

Permanent URI for this collection

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Valorisation of brewers’ spent grain: enzymatic hydrolysis in the production of xylooligosaccharides
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Arries, Chelsey; den Haan, Riaan
The beverage industry constitutes approximately 26% of all food wastes, making it one of the largest contributors in this waste segment. By utilising waste or by-products from agriculture and food production in manufacturing value added compounds, the concepts of waste mitigation and green chemistry can contribute to establishing a circular bio-economy. In a biorefinery, bio-catalytic, thermal, chemical and physical techniques are used to extract valuable compounds from food and agricultural wastes. Brewers’ spent grain (BSG) is an ideal candidate for such a biorefinery approach. This high moisture, nutrient-rich by-product from beer production is either disposed of in landfills or used as an animal feed. However, high value products, such as xylooligosaccharides (XOS) can be extracted from BSG, thereby valorising this brewery waste. Xylooligosaccharides are sought after for their ability to function as a low caloric sweetener while exhibiting prebiotic effects in stimulating the growth of probiotic bacteria in the mammalian gut.