Arabinoxylan source and xylanase specificity influence the production of oligosaccharides with prebiotic potential

Cereal arabinoxylans (AXs) are complex polysaccharides in terms of their pattern of arabinose and ferulic acid substitutions, which influence their properties in structural and nutritional applications. We have evaluated the influence of the molecular structure of three AXs from wheat and rye with distinct substitutions on the activity of β-xylanases from different glycosyl hydrolase families (GH 5_34, 8, 10 and 11). The arabinose and ferulic acid substitutions influence the accessibility of the xylanases, resulting in specific profiles of arabinoxylan-oligosaccharides (AXOS). The GH10 xylanase from Aspergillus aculeatus (AcXyn10A) and GH11 from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TlXyn11) showed the highest activity, producing larger amounts of small oligosaccharides in shorter time. The GH8 xylanase from Bacillus sp. (BXyn8) produced linear xylooligosaccharides and was most restricted by arabinose substitution, whereas GH5_34 from Gonapodya prolifera (GpXyn5_34) required arabinose substitution and produced longer (A)XOS substituted on the reducing end. The complementary substrate specificity of BXyn8 and GpXyn5_34 revealed how arabinoses were distributed along the xylan backbones. This study demonstrates that AX source and xylanase specificity influence the production of oligosaccharides with specific structures, which in turn impacts the growth of specific bacteria (Bacteroides ovatus and Bifidobacterium adolescentis) and the production of beneficial metabolites (short-chain fatty acids).