Valorization of Brewer's spent grain to prebiotic oligosaccharide: Production, xylanase catalyzed hydrolysis, in-vitro evaluation with probiotic strains and in a batch human fecal fermentation model

Brewer's spent grain (BSG) accounts for around 85% of the solid by-products from beer production. BSG was first extracted to obtain water-soluble arabinoxylan (AX). Using subsequent alkali extraction (0.5 M KOH) it was possible to dissolve additional AX. In total, about 57% of the AX in BSG was extracted with the purity of 45–55%. After comparison of nine xylanases, Pentopan mono BG, a GH11 enzyme, was selected for hydrolysis of the extracts to oligosaccharides with minimal formation of monosaccharides. Growth of Bifidobacterium adolescentis (ATCC 15703) was promoted by the enzymatic hydrolysis to arabinoxylooligosaccharides, while Lactobacillus brevis (DSMZ 1264) utilized only unsubstituted xylooligosaccharides. Furthermore, utilization of the hydrolysates by human gut microbiota was also assessed in a batch human fecal fermentation model. Results revealed that the rates of fermentation of the BSG hydrolysates by human gut microbiota were similar to that of commercial prebiotic fructooligosaccharides, while inulin was fermented at a slower rate. In summary, a sustainable process to valorize BSG to functional food ingredients has been proposed.