ABSTRACT
Endo-β-1,4-xylanases are hemicellulases that act in the hydrolysis of the xylan backbone. These enzymes stand out for their diverse applications in the pulp and paper, textile, food, animal feed, and biofuel industries. At an industrial scale, xylanases are produced by microorganisms such as bacteria and filamentous fungi, through solid or submerged cultivation. The production of microbial xylanases is limited by the high cost of commercial xylan, which can be overcome by using agro-industrial wastes in the culture medium. Due to the recalcitrance of agro-industrial wastes, several pretreatments (e.g., physical, chemical, physicochemical, and biological) are applied to facilitate the accessibility of hemicellulose fraction and subsequent microbial conversion. In this sense, this chapter provides an overview of the main aspects of microbial xylanase production using agro-industrial wastes as a xylan source. Aspects involving the lignocellulosic composition of agro-industrial wastes, the pretreatment strategies, and the use of agro-wastes in microbial xylanase production are addressed.
