Processing of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) shell autohydrolysis liquor for production of low molecular weight xylooligosaccharides by Aureobasidium pullulans NRRL Y-2311-1 xylanase

In this study, a versatile process for the production of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) with a low degree of polymerization (DP 2-6) from hazelnut shells was designed. This process included autohydrolysis integrated with sequential enzymatic hydrolysis by crude xylanase produced with Aureobasidium pullulans NRRL Y-2311-1 from wheat bran. Autohydrolysis of hazelnut shells was carried out at a solid:liquid ratio of 1:6 (w/w) and 190 degrees C nonisothermally. The effects of several parameters on enzymatic hydrolysis of the autohydrolysis liquor were determined. The maximum XOS (DP 2-6) production was 22.5 g/L which was obtained at pH 5.0 and 40 degrees C using enzyme concentration of 240 U/g XOS and substrate concentration of 72 g/L. Under these conditions, 31.29 % of the substrate (total XOS) was converted to low-DP-XOS; xylobiose and xylotriose are being the major oligomers. This is the first study on the application of A. pullulans xylanase in production of xylooligomers from hazelnut shells.