EnXylaScope Project

About

Background & Mission

A path towards more sustainable products

With the growing demand for greener biobased consumer products, every fraction of biomass should be efficiently used and appropriately modified to obtain the desired properties. Enzymes are known for their selectivity and environment-friendly reactions and so can play important roles in broadening the scope of biobased consumer products. There are many such products in whose processing enzymes could play a key role, yet suitable commercial enzymes are unavailable or perform poorly. Equally, there are a number of hitherto underexploited fractions of biomass which are prime candidates for enzyme-based functional improvements and enhanced sustainable valorization, yet the current commercial landscape is lacking in suitable candidate enzymes.

The answer is xylan

A clear example of the latter is Xylan. It is a highly-abundant lignocellulose polymer that, with appropriate modifications, has outstanding physical and chemical properties which make it suitable for incorporation in an array of consumer products, replacing lesssustainable product components and so allowing for greener market options for the consumer. Enzymes are the most sustainable and selective option Structure of different types of xylan and enzymes acting at different linkages for the modification of xylan, through the removal of the polymer’s side chains (debranching). This leads to a xylan polymer with unique functional properties (such as reduced water solubility and enhanced viscosity) and is suitable for direct incorporation in consumer products (e.g. everyday skin care) or for further modifications to confer the functional properties for more demanding applications (e.g. speciality skin care, personal care etc).

The key aim of EnXylaScope is to widen the scope and industrial potential of xylan debranching enzymes by developing enzymes with high catalytic activity and wide operation conditions, thereby demonstrating its ability to make xylan a platform polymer for applications in a variety of consumer products, with 6 products, covering 3 market sectors (personal care, cosmetics and nutraceuticals), formulated, tested, and optimised during the project.

In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives are set out:

To establish experimentally driven cross-functional process map and guidance platform to expand the use of xylan debranching enzymes and functionalising (grafting) enzymes for 6 greener consumer products covering 3 market sectors.

To accelerate discovery and functional characterisation of 4 novel high-performance xylan debranching enzymes (α- glucuronidase, α-arabinofuranosidase, acetyl xylan esterase, feruloyl esterase) by using multi-omics and advanced high-throughput screening (HTPS) methods.

To establish efficient production systems and techno-economically viable production strategies for the selected enzymes with at least one enzyme from each class of targeted enzymes.

To target enzymatic modification to introduce xylan in consumer products by using substrate and product specific enzyme cocktails developed using a combination of debranching and grafting enzymes.

To pilot process demonstration of 4 enzymes and application testing of 6 different enzymatically derived xylan-based consumer products.

To accomplish regulatory compliance and market acceptance of EnXylaScope consumer products.

To effectively communicate and disseminate procedures that will prepare the market and consumers for the exploitation potential offered by the EnXylaScope process and consumer products.