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Updated: Aug 10, 2026
08:43
OLIgo Mass Profiling (OLIMP) of Extracellular Polysaccharides
Published on: June 20, 2010
Methods to determine food inulin and oligofructose
1L. Prosky Associates, Rockville, MD 20850 and Orafti Analytical Service, B-3300 Tienen, Belgium.
The Journal of Nutrition
|July 8, 1999
Summary
A new analytical method allows fructans like inulin and oligofructose to be officially recognized as dietary fiber (DF). This method, validated by AOAC International, enables accurate labeling of DF content in various food products.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Analytical Chemistry
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Fructans (inulin, oligofructose) exhibit dietary fiber (DF) properties but were not classified as DF.
- Traditional AOAC methods excluded fructans due to their ethanol solubility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate an AOAC-accepted analytical method for quantifying fructans.
- To enable the official classification of fructans as dietary fiber.
Main Methods:
- Enzymatic treatment (amyloglucosidase, inulinase) of food samples.
- Quantification of released sugars via ion-exchange chromatography.
- Calculation of fructan concentration based on differential enzymatic hydrolysis.
Main Results:
- Method demonstrated good repeatability (RSDr 2.9–5.8%) and reproducibility (RSDR 4.7–11.1%) across various food matrices.
- Assayed foods included spreads, chocolate, confectionery, and baked goods.
- The developed method was officially accepted by AOAC International as a first action method.
Conclusions:
- The new analytical method successfully quantifies inulin and oligofructose.
- This validates the classification of fructans as dietary fiber.
- Accurate food labeling regarding dietary fiber content is now possible.
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