Enzymatic production of prebiotic oligosaccharide from rose residue derived from essential oil extraction process.

Essential oils have become popular in the cosmetics, wellness, and spa industries due to their pleasant aroma, health-promoting benefits, pharmaceutical properties, and, importantly, the growing demand for natural products driven by the emerging vegan consumer market. Rose essential oil is in high demand for various product applications, including perfumes, anti-aging facial lotions and creams, and spa massage oils. However, the essential oil present in rose petals occurs in small amounts, ranging from 0.02–0.05% by weight. This low yield requires large volumes of rose petals for essential oil extraction, generating substantial quantities of rose petal solid residue (RPSR) that is rich in cellulosic polysaccharides. To utilize this by-product, we employed commercial cellulolytic enzymes to degrade the cellulose in RPSR into cello-oligomers. We found that enzymatic treatment of RPSR at an enzyme loading of 15 FPU/mL, pH 5.5, and 60 °C for 24 h yielded the highest reducing sugar output. The released reducing sugars were further qualitatively analyzed by thin-layer chromatography, revealing a series of oligosaccharides with degrees of polymerization of 2–6. In addition, the mixture of RPSR-derived oligomers was used as a sole carbon source for culturing probiotic Lactobacilli, demonstrating a growth-promoting effect. Taken together, our study demonstrates that enzymatic treatment of RPSR with cellulolytic enzymes can generate cello-oligomers with potentially prebiotic properties.