Waste-to-bioprotectant platform converting spent pectin biomass into bioactive xyloglucan oligosaccharides for crop protection

Overview

This platform converts spent pectin production residues — specifically hemicellulose-rich fibrous biomass from citrus and apple processing — into bioactive xyloglucan oligosaccharides (XyGOs) for use as crop bioprotectants. The recovered XyGO fractions elicit plant immune responses and protect against a broad range of phytopathogens, creating a defined high-value use for residual biomass that is currently underutilized.

The technology addresses two needs simultaneously: providing growers with a sustainable, biologically derived crop-protection alternative, and creating a valorization route for pectin industry side streams. Fucosylated xyloglucan, abundant in citrus and apple residues, has been shown in our studies to induce stronger immune activation than non-fucosylated forms, making these particular feedstocks especially attractive.

Technical specifications

The process employs enzymatic hydrolysis of hemicellulose-rich residues followed by scalable membrane-based fractionation to recover a XyGO-rich fraction with the desired bioactive oligosaccharide profile. The resulting product is formulated for foliar application.

Key features:

• Feedstock: spent citrus and apple pectin residues containing approximately 35–45% hemicellulose by dry weight
• Enzymatic release of xyloglucan oligosaccharides under mild conditions
• Scalable membrane fractionation to concentrate bioactive oligosaccharides while preserving the active profile
• XyGO mixtures validated as bioprotectants in tomato, reducing disease
• Fucosylated XyG components provide enhanced immune elicitation
• Foliar formulation suitable for agricultural application

Technology readiness level

The XyGO bioprotectant platform is currently at TRL-5, with XyGO mixtures demonstrated to function as bioprotectants in tomato under controlled conditions. A staged development plan is in place to profile representative citrus and apple side streams for residual XyG abundance and composition, optimize enzymatic hydrolysis and fractionation for consistent product quality, and benchmark recovered XyGOs against validated preparations for immune activation, phytotoxicity, and disease protection in tomato. Lead fractions will then advance to formulation and greenhouse application studies, with process yield, enzyme use, and fractionation efficiency incorporated into a preliminary scale-up and cost assessment — generating the process package needed for TRL-6 field demonstration.