Circular bioeconomy and integrated biorefinery in the production of xylooligosaccharides from lignocellulosic biomass: A review

• Xylooligosaccharides are a promising prebiotic compound for food technology. • Lignocellulosic residues are a potential source to produce xylooligosaccharides. • Agroindustrial wastes are the raw material of second generation biorefineries. • The creation of value-added compounds increases the bioeconomy and sustainability. Biorefineries are an operational processing strategy similar to classic petroleum biorefineries in the production of energy and products. However, the biorefineries use renewable sources (biomass) as feedstock. In these days, the biorefineries of second generation from lignocellulosic biomass are a promising strategy in the production of high added value compounds as the xylooligosaccharides (XOs) from hemicellulose fraction of lignocellulosic biomass. The XOs can be applied in different areas as food, energy, materials, promoting the sustainability of the biorefinery model in terms of a circular bioeconomy. This review provides the latest advances in the processing of biomass; production, general properties and structural characteristics, advances in industrial scale and commercial potential of XOs. Also, the production of XOS in continuous processing operation as an important strategy at pilot and industrial level for biotechnological application is presented.