**5. Conclusions**

This study reported, for the first time, the application of two termite metagenome-derived FAEs for the production of XOS and hydroxycinnamic acids from CC. The FA and/or *p*-CA released from WAX and CC was greatly enhanced when FAE5 and FAE6 were co-incubated with Xyn11 compared to when the enzymes were applied individually. The presence of FAEs played a major role in the production of XOS, mainly xylobiose, from untreated and pre-treated CC. This study suggests that FAEs act synergistically with Xyn11 during the enzymatic hydrolysis of CC to produce the industrially relevant products XOS and hydroxycinnamic acids.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, L.M.; S.M.; B.S.W. and B.I.P.; methodology, L.M.; software, L.M.; validation, L.M.; S.M.; B.S.W. and B.I.P.; formal analysis, L.M.; S.M.; B.S.W. and B.I.P.; investigation, L.M.; resources, B.S.W. and B.I.P.; data curation, L.M.; writing—original draft preparation, L.M.; writing—review and editing, L.M.; S.M.; B.S.W. and B.I.P.; visualization, L.M.; supervision, B.I.P. and B.S.W.; project administration, B.I.P. and B.S.W.; funding acquisition, B.I.P. All authors have read and agree to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The work was funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST)/Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) National Biocatalysis Initiative, National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and Rhodes University. Any opinion, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and therefore the NRF does not accept liability in regard thereto.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
