Xylan from corn cobs

XOS are manufactured by enzymatic hydrolysis of xylan from corn cobs, oat spelt xylan or wheat arabinoxylan [257]. Xylan, a principle t)q)e of hemicellulose exists as a linear polymer of -D-xylopyranosyl units linked by 1 4 glycosidic bonds. Depending on the origin, different substituents such as arabinfuranosyl, 4-0-methylglucuronosyl and acetyl groups are present. Typical raw materials for XOS production include hardwoods, com cobs, straws. 

Egito and colleagues have been working for over a decade on the extraction of xylan from corn cobs and its use for the development of microparticles as drug carriers for colon-specific delivery of anti-inflammatory and toxic drugs, such as sodium diclofenac (SD], 5-aminosalycilic acid [5-ASA], and usnic acid (UA). Xylan-coated microparticles have also been developed by Egito and co-workers in order to deliver magnetite particles [44]. Different microencapsulation techniques have been used for... 

The aim of this chapter is to summarize some of the research findings on xylan, a natural polymer extracted from corn cobs, which presents a promising application in the development of colon-specific drug carriers. Physicochemical characterization of the polymer regarding particle size and morphology, composition, rheology, thermal behavior, and crystallinity will be provided. Additionally, research data on its extraction and the development of microparticles based on xylan and prepared by different methods will also be presented and discussed. 

The most common method to extract xylan is the alkaline extraction. Several pretreatment methods can be used in association in order to break the covalent bonds that exist between xylan and other carbohydrates during the extraction (Wang Zhang, 2006). A number of articles studied the use of ultrasound on the xylan extraction. Hromadkova and coworkers reported that 36.1% of xylan was extracted from corn cobs with 5% NaOH solution at 60°C for 10 min of ultrasonication in comparison with 31.5% of xylan in the classical extraction. Both extractive methods yielded xylan with immunogenic properties (Hromadkova et al., 1999). 

Wang and Zhang also investigated the effects on the xylan extracted from corn cobs enhanced by ultrasound at various lab-scale conditions. Results showed that the optimization conditions of xylan extraction should be carried out using (i) 1.8 M NaOH, (ii) corn cobs to NaOH solution ratio of 1 25 (w/w), (iii) sonication at 200 W ultrasound power for 30 min at 5 min intervals, and (iv) 60 °C (Wang Zhang, 2006). 

Fig. 2. SEM image of xylan powder after extraction from corn cobs (Oliveira et al., 2010).

Table 1. Rheological properties of xylan powder extracted from corn cobs...

Xyloisosaccharinic acid [2,4-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)butanoic acid] is one of the major, alkaline-degradation products of wood xylan, in particular, that of birch. The disaccharide, 2-O-D-xylopyranosyl-L-arabinose, which was isolated as a hydrolysis product of corn-cob hemicellulose, is readily degraded at 100° in 15 mM Ca(OH)2 to acidic products, primarily saccharinic acids. Xylan oligosaccharides from corn-cob hemicellulose produced 2,4-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)buta-noic acid when exposed to 0.02 M Ca(OH)2 at 25°. However, it was noted that the xylan, itself, was stable at 100° in Af NaOH. The major acidic component of the hemicellulose fraction of slash pine Pinus el-liotti) after acid hydrolysis was identified as 4-O-methyl-D-glucuronic... 

Specifically, some hemicelluloses from plants and higher plants are a potential source of industrial polysaccharides. The pharmaceutical industry has benefitted from such diversity of biomaterials and has exploited the use of natural products as sources of both drugs and excipients. One example of a promising biomaterial for pharmaceutical use is xylan, a hemicellulose largely found in nature and considered the second most abundant polysaccharide after cellulose [41, 43]. Melo et al. [31] have reported research on the activity of antioxidant, antimicroba, and anticoagulant from corn cobs xylan. 

S. D. 0., Ribeiro, V. B., Barth, A. L., Macedo, A. J., Leite, E. L., Rocha, H. A. 0. (2012). In vitro antioxidant, anticoagulant and antimicrobial activity and in inhibition of cancer cell proliferation by xylan extracted from corn cobs. 13,409-426. 

S. Kumar, and Y.S. Negi, Nanoparticles synthesis from corn cob (xylan) and their potential application as colon-specific drug carrier, Macromol Symp., 320 (1), 75-80, 2012. 

Fig. 7 Stabilization effect of various xylan types isolated from beech wood (GXl and GX2), corn cobs (AGXl), rye bran (AXRl and AXR3), and corn hulls (AXCl and AXC2) on the protein (BSA) foam against thermal disruption foam volume before (V1) and after (V2) heating at 95 °C for 3 min [128]...

Xylan occurs in practically all land plants and is said to be present in some marine algae.6 In both wide botanical distribution and abundance in nature it closely follows cellulose and starch. It is most abundant in annual crops, particularly in agricultural residues such as corn cobs, corn stalks, grain hulls and stems. Here it occurs in amounts ranging from 15 to 30%. Hard woods contain 20 to 25% xylan while soft woods contain 7 to 12 %. Spring wood has more pentosan than summer wood. 7 Low strength vegetable fibers of commerce such as jute, sisal, Manila... 

Aqueous alkaline extraction of wood was employed by Poumarede and Figuier48 in 1846 for the removal of a substance called wood gum. Similar very crude xylan or hemicellulose preparations were made by other workers of the early period. Extractions were made not only from wood sawdust, but from annual plant materials such as wheat straw, corn cob, etc.49-66... 

Prior to xylan removal it is possible to extract from the plant material those hemicelluloses soluble in dilute alkali. Soluble hemicelluloses of this type are the principal impurities extracted with xylan and consist for the most part of low molecular weight polysaccharides and polyuronides. Corn cob holocellulose may be freed of these compounds (called hemicellulose-B fraction, see Figure 2) by extraction with potas-... 

Relatively pure xylan isolated from the holocellulose of aspen (Populus) wood is said to contain 85% of xylose residues.78 One of the characteristic properties of xylan is its ease of hydrolysis. Because it hydrolyzes much more readily than cellulose, mild acid treatment may be employed to bring about preferential hydrolysis of xylan from plant material. Xylose is ordinarily prepared in the laboratory by direct sulfuric acid hydrolysis of the native xylan in ground corn cobs.74 Hydrolysis in hydrochloric acid proceeds rapidly, but decomposition to furfural also occurs to some extent.76 A commercial method for the production of D-xylose from cottonseed hulls76 and straw77 and from corn cobs17 78 has been described. 

This result could not have been achieved by acid hydrolysis, which would have attacked the furanosidic residues first. Whistler and Masak studied the action of an enz3une preparation from Aspergillm foetidus on corn-cob xylan and found that the effect depended very largely on the way in which the enzyme had been purified. 

Xylan from wood has received somewhat less attention from carbohydrate chemists than has the xylan from such rich sources as wheat straw, corn cobs, and esparto grass. However, specific optical rotations of the xylans obtained from the aforementioned sources are of the same general order of magnitude as those of some xylans obtained from wood. Yundt crystallized xylans from paper birch and from barley straw as sphero-crystals, and compared their properties (see Table VII). 

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