NOVEL COMPOSITIONS, THEIR USE, AND METHODS FOR THEIR FORMATION

1 .- 20 . (canceled)

21 . A foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition comprising a saccharide component, wherein the saccharide component comprises xylo-oligosaccharides, wherein the saccharide component comprises:

i) monosaccharides at <5% w/w of the saccharide component, the monosaccharides comprise glucose, xylose or mannose,

ii) disaccharides at >20% w/w of the saccharide component, the disaccharides comprise cello-, xylo-or manno-oligosaccharides,

iii) trisaccharides at >7.5% w/w of the saccharide component, the trisaccharides comprise cello-, xylo-or manno-oligosaccharides,

iv) tetrasaccharides at >2% w/w of the saccharide component, the tetrasaccharides comprise cello-, xylo-or manno-oligosaccharides, and

v) polysaccharides from 5% to 50% w/w of the saccharide component, wherein the polysaccharides are cellulosic polysaccharides, hemicellulosic polysaccharides, cellulose derivatives, or polysaccharide aggregates, or a combination thereof;

wherein the saccharide component comprises unbranched and branched oligosaccharides in a ratio of at least 1:1, by dry weight,

wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides comprise xylo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, or twelve, or a combination thereof,

wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of four is at least 5% w/w of the xylo-oligosaccharides,

wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of five is at least 5% w/w of the xylo-oligosaccharides, and

wherein the saccharide component is at least 40% w/w of the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition.

22 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of two is at least 15% w/w of the xylo-oligosaccharides, and wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of three is at least 8% w/w of the xylo-oligosaccharides.

23 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the disaccharides comprising cello-, xylo-and/or manno-oligosaccharides is at least 25% w/w of the saccharide component.

24 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the trisaccharides comprising cello-, xylo-and/or mannooligosaccharides is at least 10% w/w of the saccharide component.

25 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the tetrasaccharides comprising cello-, xylo-and/or mannooligosaccharides is at least 4% w/w of the saccharide component.

26 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition comprises at least 50%, by dry weight saccharides.

27 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the xylo-oligosaccharides having a degree of polymerisation of from two to twelve are at least 30% w/w of the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition.

28 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the monosaccharides comprising glucose, xylose and/or mannose is less than 3% w/w of the saccharide component.

29 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition is used as an ingredient in a finished product, wherein the concentration of the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition in the finished product is at least 5% w/w.

30 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein a source of the polysaccharides is a biomass.

31 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 30 , wherein the biomass comprises corn stalk, corn cob, wheat bran, wheat straw, hardwood, softwood, cellulose, chitin, chitosan, xylan, xyloglucan, mixed bond glucan, mannan, or lignocellulose, or a combination thereof.

32 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition comprises at least 30% by dry weight, xylo-oligosaccharides having a degree of polymerisation of from two to six.

33 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition comprises at least two oligosaccharides derived from lignocellulosic polymers selected from the group consisting of cellulose, xylan, mixed-linkage glucan, mannan, xyloglucan, and chitin.

34 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 33 , wherein the at least two oligosaccharides comprises at least 10% w/w of the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition.

35 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 33 , wherein the polysaccharides comprise a polysaccharide aggregate, and wherein the polysaccharide aggregate comprises an undigested lignocellulosic material from an enzymatic reaction, wherein the undigested lignocellulosic material is derived from the lignocellulosic polymers.

36 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition comprises a phenolic compound.

37 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 36 , wherein the phenolic compound is a portion of lignin or a product of lignin breakdown.

38 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 29 , wherein the finished product is a foodstuff product, a cosmetic product, or a nutraceutical product.

39 . The foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 38 , wherein the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition is at least 10% w/w of the finished product.

40 . A method comprising: using the foodstuff ingredient, cosmetic ingredient, or nutraceutical ingredient composition of claim 21 as a fiber content enhancer, or as a binding composition.