Cassava Bagasse as a Substrate to Produce Cyclodextrins

Abstract

Cassava bagasse (CB) is an agro‐industry residue usually discarded by starch industries. In this study, CB is used as a substrate to produce cyclodextrins (CDs), due to the high carbohydrate content (62%). The influence of CB concentration (2–4%) and temperature (60–70 °C) on the production of α, β, and γ‐CD was verified by means of the CGTase Toruzyme enzyme. Higher CD production (8.61 mM) is observed for 4% CB at 70 °C. The CB performed similar or better in the CD production and conversion rates when compared to cassava dextrin (CM), the main substrate used for CD production. The addition of 10% ethanol to the reaction medium containing CB doubled the conversion rate to 48.5%. Therefore, CD production with CB can solve the problem of discarding this residue, allowing the production of CDs with lower costs, and can generate additional income for the cassava starch industry.