Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass and Agri-food Processing Wastes for Production of Glucan Polymer

Agro-industrial wastes and lignocellulosic biomass represents plentiful renewable carbon-based resources in the environment. An increasing interest has been shown by the researchers to utilize agri-food processing wastes and lignocellulosic biomass for production of value-added substances and biochemicals. Glucans are known as a biopolymeric chemical which is derived from D-glucose with valuable medical applications. Glucans could be extracted from different organisms including plants, fungi, bacteria and algae. In this context, agricultural and food processing wastes as well as lignocellulosic biomass have been known as low-cost feedstocks for production of glucan polymers. Hence, in this review, firstly an overview of the current glucan-derived sources including plant and microbial sources is given. Subsequently, a comprehensive review of various wastes obtained from the agri-food processing industry and plant biomass used in the production of glucan-based biopolymers is presented with providing the comparison of different sources used for the production of glucan polymer. Finally, the production of glucan polymer from agri-food processing wastes is evaluated in aspect of biorefinery. [GRAPHICS] .