Resumen
Hemicellulose consists of non-cellulosic polysaccharides, with xylans and mannans as their main examples. In nature, xylan can be first degraded to xylooligosaccharides and finally to xylose by certain microorganisms. White-rot fungi basidiomycetes Pleurotus sp. BCCB068 and Pleurotus tailandia were used to degrade oat-spelts xylan under submerged fermentation for a period of 40 days. The study obtained activities of endo-1,4-ß-xylanase and ß-xylosidase and determination of xylan products by degradation. The fungi reached significant levels of xylan degradation by Pleurotus sp. BCCB068 (75.1%) and P. tailandia (73.4%), following formations of xylooligosaccharides and sugar monomers. These Pleurotus strains proved to be a feasible alternative for biotechnological processes related to degradation of hemicellulose sources.