IJSRSET1844474 | Received : 15 April 2018 | Accepted : 28 April 2018 | March-April-2018 [(4) 4 : 1442-1448] © 2018 IJSRSET | Volume 4 | Issue 4 | Print ISSN: 2395-1990 | Online ISSN : 2394-4099 Themed Section : Science and Technology 1442 Production of Xylooligosaccharide from Corn Cob Xylan by Xylanase Obtained from Aureobasidium Pullulans Deepak K Rahi * , Richa, Maninderjeet Kaur Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India ABSTRACT The work is focussed on the production of xylooligosaccharide (XOS), a widely acknowledged prebiotic, by utilizing the xylan extract which was obtained by autohydrolysis of Corn cob which yielded 62.5±0.7 g total sugar/kg. Partially purified xylanase obtained from an indigenous strain of Aureobasidium pullulans was found to be efficient in the production of XOS. One factor at a time (OFAT) approach was used for optimizing the production of XOS upon which the resultant yield obtained was 6.2±1.5 mg/ml of XOS in 50 minutes. The prebiotic was then studied for its stability in acidic pH. Furthermore, the produced prebiotic was then infused in MRS medium and evaluated for its stimulatory effect on the growth of Lactobacillus. Keywords: Xylanase, Aureobasidium pullulans, Corn Cob, Xylooligosaccharide I. INTRODUCTION Food industry is growing at a prolific rate and the market for functional foods has gained momentum especially in the recent years [1]. Functional food is a component of human diet which provides additional health benefits than traditional foods. As these claim to enhance health and provide additional benefits, the quest continues to comprehend the effect of various components of food on human health [2]. One such category of functional food is prebiotics. Prebiotics are majorly fibers that are short-chain carbohydrate which are non-digestible food ingredients and are beneficial for human health as it supports the proliferation of beneficial gut microflora, generally lactobacilli and bifidobacteria [3]. There are many types of prebiotics depending upon its components, such as fructooligosaccharides (FOS), xylooligosaccharides (XOS), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), raffinose oligosaccharides, soybean oligosaccharide etc [4]. Xylooligosaccharide (XOS) are short chained oligomers of xylose. Xylanase has been used to break down xylan extracted from xylan rich sources and to produce XOS. For XOS to be used as a prebiotic it must possess some crucial characteristics, like, it must elicit some beneficial health effect, should have high stability over acidic pH, and, should promote the growth of prebiotics [5]. XOS can be synthesized from numerous xylan-rich substances by various processes. XOS can be produced from materials such as wheat straw, corncobs, tobacco stalk, sunflower stalk etc. by various methods such as chemical, autohydrolysis, direct enzymatic hydrolysis of susceptible portion, acid hydrolysis, or a combination of the other methods [5, 6]. To extract xylan, or so to say any hemicellulosic component, breaking of the interactive bonds is a prerequisite. The reason why such treatments are necessary is because xylan does not occur in a free form but in a complex with lignin in the lignocellulosic biomass. As a consequence, XOS synthesis has to be carried out in two steps, where first step deals with the extraction of