Purification and characterization of a bacterial mannanase for the production of manno oligosaccharides and their application as prebiotic bioactive agents

Abstract

Manno-oligosaccharides (MOS) are functional oligosachharides reported to exhibit prebiotic properties. Despite numerous reports of MOS production, exhaustive attempts have not been made for their bulk production for commercialization. Present study was designed to produce prebiotic MOS from copra meal (an agro-waste) using a bacterial mannanase in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. An environmental isolate Bacillus subtilis MAN7 was isolated for the production of pH and thermotolerant and#946;-mannanase (MAN-7). MAN-7 was hyper-produced, purified and characterized. Enzymatic process was standardized for the hyperproduction of MOS from the copra meal using the MAN-7. Oligosaccharides were purified and characterized. MOS were found to selectively stimulate enteric bacteria, non-digestible, and biocompatible making them suitable as candidate prebiotics. MOS also showed antioxidant and anti-cancerous activity. The current study can be exploited for the commercial production of MOS for their application as prebiotics, functional food ingredient and therapeutic agent. newline