National Announcement

On March 25, 2009, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued the Announcement of MOH on the Approval of Inulin and Polyfructose as New Resource Foods (MOH Announcement No. 5 of 2009) announcement, officially approving Inulin as a new food ingredient.

It also made the following regulations on the source, process, serving size, quality requirements and scope of use of inulin:

Inulin is a mixture of fructans polymerized from 2-60 fructose molecules, which is fermented and absorbed by beneficial bacteria after entering the human colon, so it is also called inulin as compound polysaccharide or compound prebiotics. It is the best quality natural water-soluble dietary fiber found so far.

Source of Inulin

Inulin is widely distributed in nature, and certain fungi and bacteria also contain inulin, but its main source is plants. Plants that people consume on a daily basis such as: onions, garlic, bananas and wheat all contain inulin.

However, inulin in nature mainly exists in plants of the Asteraceae family, inulin (commonly known as ginger, the main raw material of domestic inulin) content of 14%-19%, chicory (the main raw material of European inulin) content of 15%-20%, inulin content of several common edible plants in the following table

Inulin content in common edible plants (fresh weight/%)

Wheat
1~4
Inulin
15~20

Onion
2~6
Jerusalem artichoke
15~20

Leek
10~15
Brahmin Ginseng
15~20

Asparagus
10~15
Dahlia Tubers
15~20

Chicory
13~20
Garlic
15~20

Functional Characteristics of Inulin

3.1 Control of blood lipids
Intake of inulin can effectively reduce serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), increase the HDL/LDL ratio, and improve the lipid profile.Hidaka et al. reported that elderly patients aged 50-90 years old, who ingested 8g of short-chained dietary fibers per day for two weeks, saw a reduction of triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in the blood. Yamashita et al. gave 8g of inulin to 18 diabetic patients for two weeks and total cholesterol was reduced by 7.9%, but HDL-cholesterol remained unchanged. In contrast, the above parameters did not change in a control group that ingested the diet.

Brighenti et al. observed an 8.2% reduction in total cholesterol and a dramatic 26.5% reduction in triglycerides in 12 healthy young men who added 9 g of inulin to their daily breakfast cereal for a total of 4 weeks.

Many dietary fibers lower blood lipid levels by absorbing fat from the intestines and forming a fat-fiber complex that is excreted in the feces. Moreover, inulin ferments itself into short-chain fatty acids and lactates before it reaches the end of the intestinal tract, and lactates are regulators of hepatic metabolism. Short-chain fatty acids (acetate and propionate) can be used as fuel in the blood, and propionate inhibits cholesterol synthesis.

3.2 Lowering blood sugar
For diabetic patients, rationalization of diet is the main method of treatment. Inulin has a slightly sweet flavor and is a fructose polymer, which is basically not decomposed or absorbed in the process of passing through the human oral cavity, stomach and small intestine. Therefore, inulin does not affect the blood glucose level after being ingested through the oral cavity, so it can be used as food for diabetic patients.

Research on the mechanism of inulin lowering blood sugar level has attracted more and more scientists’ attention. Some scholars believe that the high viscosity of inulin leads to the increase of the thickness of intestinal mucosa, which reduces the absorption of glucose; some scholars believe that, on the one hand, the short-chain fatty acids produced by the fermentation of inulin promotes the synthesis of hepatic glucose, while oligofructose can promote the body’s absorption of Mg2+, which reduces the risk of developing diabetes mellitus.

3.3 Improvement of intestinal function
Improvement of intestinal function Inulin is a prebiotic, which is a non-digestible food ingredient that selectively stimulates and promotes the growth and vitality of one or more microorganisms in the colon that are beneficial to the health of the host, promoting host health. Inulin can ferment in the human colon and proliferate bifidobacteria by 5-10 times, while at the same time inhibiting the growth of potentially harmful bacteria, which can significantly improve constipation and diarrhea caused by the abuse of antibiotics.

Fermentation of inulin in the colon improves the microflora and gas volume, thus promoting intestinal peristalsis, shortening the residence time of feces in the colon, making it move faster, decreasing the water absorption time, increasing the weight of feces, and effectively preventing constipation. At the same time, it also increases the excretion of feces, so that the carcinogenic substances in the intestinal tract are also diluted, therefore, the stimulation of carcinogenic substances on the intestinal bi-cells is reduced, which is conducive to the prevention of colon cancer.

3.4 Promote mineral absorption
Dietary fiber in daily diet can reduce the absorption of certain minerals in the intestine. However, the intake of inulin as a soluble dietary fiber does not inhibit the absorption of minerals, but rather promotes the absorption of minerals such as Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Cu2+ and Fe2+.

Any inulin mineral complexes are degraded during fermentation by intestinal flora, releasing the minerals and making them more favorable for intestinal absorption. In addition, the acid produced by fermentation lowers the colonic pH by 1-2 units, allowing for increased solubility and bioavailability of many minerals. Moreover, short-chain fatty acids, especially butyric acid, can stimulate the growth of colonic mucosal cells and improve the absorption capacity of intestinal mucosa.

Application of Inulin in Food

4.1 Processing low-fat food (e.g. cream, spreads)
Inulin is an excellent fat replacer, when mixed completely with water back to form a creamy structure, which makes it easy to replace fat in food and provide a smooth texture, well-balanced and rounded flavor. Can replace fat into fiber, increase product compactness and taste and can be stable to improve the dispersion of emulsification, in the cream, spread food processing can replace 30 ~ 60% of the fat.

4.2 Configuration of high fiber diet
Inulin has good solubility in water, which makes it can be combined with aqueous system, rich in water-soluble dietary fiber, unlike other fibers produce precipitation problems, the use of inulin as a fiber ingredient is very convenient and can make the sensory properties improved, they can help the body to get a more balanced diet, and therefore can be used as a high-fiber food ingredients.

4.3 It can be used as a bifidobacteria proliferation factor, belonging to prebiotic food ingredients
Inulin can be utilized by beneficial bacteria in human intestinal tract, especially it can make bifidobacteria proliferate 5~10 times, at the same time, harmful bacteria will be significantly reduced, improve the distribution of human body flora, and promote health, inulin has been listed as an important bifidobacteria proliferation factor.

4.4 Used in milk beverage, sour milk, liquid milk
Add inulin 2~5% in dairy drinks, sour milk, liquid milk, so that the product has the function of dietary fiber and oligosaccharides, but also to increase the consistency, giving the product a thicker creamy texture, better balance of the structure and fuller flavor.

4.5 Used in baked products
Inclusion of inulin in bakery products is used to develop new concepts of bread, such as prebiotic bread, multifiber white bread and even multifiber gluten-free bread. Inulin can increase the stability of dough, adjust the absorption of water, increase the volume of bread, improve the uniformity of bread flesh and the ability to form slices.

4.6 Used in fruit juice drinks, functional water drinks, sports drinks, fruit dew, jelly
Add inulin 0.8~3% in juice drinks, functional water drinks, sports drinks, fruit dew, jelly, it can make the flavor of the drink stronger and the texture better.

4.7 Used in milk powder, fresh milk dried food tablets, cheese, frozen desserts
Add 8~10% of inulin in milk powder, fresh milk dry eating tablets, cheese, frozen desserts, which can make the products stronger, stronger flavor and better texture.

4.8 Used in health food
At present, inulin has been approved by more than 40 countries in the world as nutritional supplements for food. As the original auxiliary material and carrier of various health foods such as preventing and treating constipation, diabetes, obesity and so on. For regulating intestinal flora, regulating blood lipids, promoting calcium or mineral absorption and other health foods or functional foods (diet foods), inulin is one of the best ingredients or functional ingredients.