Winter 2000 Issue — Inulin, Multiple Choice

Jeroen Pol

Sensus

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The most remarkable trend in the food business is to make food healthier. The consumers are more conscious on their well being and the food manufacturers have provided the products to fulfil that need. These products can largely be put in two categories:

• Functional foods: foods fortified with probiotics bacteria, prebiotics, fibre, minerals, vitamins
• Low & lite products: products in which (a part of) fat or sugar are replaced.

The prediction is that over the coming years the market for these products will increase dramatically. Conservative predictions say 10% (2.5 billion US$ in 5 years), very enthusiastic predictions go up to 50% each year. With a rising demand for these products, the market is continually looking at the ingredients suppliers for new concepts and ideas. An ingredient which has been around for a few years but is still gaining interest, is inulin.

Inulin

Frutafit®-inulin (Sensus' inulin) is a fructo­oligosaccharide which is extracted from chicory roots. Inulin is a mixture of linear fructose chains with one terminal glucose molecule. The length of these fructose chains may vary between 2 and 60. Because the (2-1) bond between the fructose units cannot be digested by human digestive enzymes, inulin reaches the colon intact. In the colon inulin is fermented by Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. This results in an increase of these beneficial bacteria and their fermentation products which has a positive effect on human health. At the same time potential pathogenic strains like Clostridium spp. and E.coli are significantly reduced.

Related health effects are improved mineral absorption, less change of intestinal infections and improved bowel movement. There are also indications that regular consumption of inulin can result in a lowering of cholesterol levels and a decreased risk of colon cancer. The fact that inulin is not digested and reaches the colon intact qualifies it as a dietary fibre.

The growth stimulation of the colonic flora defines inulin as a prebioticingredient: the number of "beneficial bacteria" (B ifidobacteria, Lactobacilli) increases and that of pathogenic bacteria (Clostridia, E. Coli) decreases. Inulin also possesses gel forming capabilities. These inulin gels are sensorically and reologically much like fat. Replacement of fat by inulin results in unaltered mouthfeel and structure. Basically all of these properties are present in foodstuffs with inulin. However, food manufacturers usually decide to use inulin for one of these properties. Either the nutritional or the technological aspects. The last few years inulin has had a lot of media attention, resulting in a rapidly growing amount of inulin containing product introductions.

The Applications

Basically inulin can be used in food products for three reasons:

• Fibre enrichment
• As a prebiotic/bifidogenic ingredient
• As a sugar and fat replacer.

Fibre enrichment

The average recommended daily intake in Europe for fibre is about 25-30 grams for adults. For a diet to be rich in fibre the recommended intake is 30-40 grams. However, it is very important to have variation in fibre and fibre sources. Inulin is a soluble fibre. This can be very useful for liquid products and in products where visible fibre is not an option. Examples of these kinc of products are breakfast drinks, cereal bars, biscuits, cake, milk and spreads.

Prebiotic ingredient

Food products with added health promoting bacteria cultures are already a common sight in many supermarkets. These are so called probiotic food products. However, the addition of an ingredient which stimulates existing "beneficial" colonic flora is gamma recognition. These are called prebiotics. Prebiotics are thought to be more effective than probiotics in achieving a health intestinal flora. The problem with probiotic bacteria is often the survival of the bacteria during storage of the foodstuff and in the gastro­intestinal tract. Inulin is not effected by heat changes during processing storage or by the digestive enzymes of the human gastro­intestinal tract. As stated earlier it reaches to colon intact where it is fermented by bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. In all products where inulin is added as a prebiotic a claim is stated on the packaging which refers to this property.

Especially in Europe dairy products are the most popular products to enrich with health promoting ingredients. Yoghurts with added bacteria cultures and/or intestinal flora promoters are in most European countries already generally adopted and accepted. Because a healthy gut flora is more and more accepted to be an essential part of a good general health, consumers start to look more for products which can contribute to this. In The Netherlands and in Germany prebiotic bread was introduced. The product claimed to be enriched with a Bifidus Activator. Also, a number of healthy "shakes" have appeared enriched with bifidogenic ingredients.

Fat replacement

Fat is an essential part in many food products. It provides structure to the product and gives a pleasant mouth feel. An important property of inulin is that it has a similar mouthfeel as fat. In many Western European countries low and no fat products are gaining popularity. Products like low fat potato chips, fat free dressings, low fat cake, low fat ice cream are appearing in the supermarket rapidly and seem to be a success. The fat replacing properties are the result of the capacity of inulin to form a particle gel. This particle gel is formed when the concentration of inulin in water rises above 20%. The gel which forms has the same sensoric properties as fat. In the above mentioned products 50%-70% calorie reductions were achieved without affecting the taste.

Practical remarks

Frutafit®-inulin is supplied as a white free-flowing powder to the food industry. The specific powder characteristics account for an excellent dispersability and solubility. Because of its neutral taste and colour, inular can be used in a wide range of food products. Inulin is not affected by heat and therefore it can be pasteurised or sterilised without losing its nutritional or technological properties. Inulin is stable in an acidic environment considering that the pH should not be below 3,5.

Daily consumption of inulin

A daily consumption of 25 to 40 grams of inulin, spread through the day, is tolerated by most people without any problems. A small part of the population seems to be more sensitive to inulin and fructo­oligosaccharides. For a food product to be claimed "fibre enriched" or "with extra fibre" legal guidelines exist considering the minimal dosage. These guidelines differ from country to country and are described in the national food laws. For a food products to be claimed "prebiotic" no legal guidelines exist. However there are guidelines because claims are not allowed if they are misleading to the general public. The guidelines are based upon the daily consumed amount. Scientific studies have shown that the minimal required intake of inulin for a prebiotic effect is 8 grams a day. Taken into account that the background consumption of inulin is about 3-4 grams (onions, garlic, wheat etc.) an addition of 1-2% to yoghurts and beverages would be sufficient to achieve an intake of 4-5 grams.

Opportunities

In a rapidly expanding market inulin has the advantage of its multiple functionality. The growing awareness among consumers of the relation between food and well-being and the increasing costs for health care, lead to a lot of attention from the food industry for products with a healthy image. Mergers, joint ventures, "functional food task forces" show that the multinationals have actively adopted the concept of functional foods. Frutafit®­inulin has the ability to create new business opportunities for the food industry with special health oriented products as well as low & lite products.

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