Analysis of Inulin Composition

Source Adapted from Baal, H., in Fourth Seminar on Inulin, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1993, 

The concentration of short-chain fructooligosaccharides in foods is of interest in that they comprise part of the total dietary fiber. The standard Asssociation of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) method for dietary fiber does not measure short-chain fructooligosaccharides due to their ethanol solubility however, several alternative methods have been developed (Hoebregs, 1997 McCleary et al., 2000 Ouame et al., 1997 Simonovska, 2000 Zuleta and Sambucetti, 2001). 

Biology and Chemistry of Jerusalem Artichoke Helianthus tuberosus L. 

Jerusalem artichoke tubers arriving from the field or storage are first washed to remove any soil and extraneous matter, and then mechanically cleaned (Barta, 1993). At this point, the tubers can be ground to produce Jerusalem artichoke flour for bread and other products (Leyst-Kushenmeister, 

FIGURE 5.3 Flow diagram for the extraction and fractionation of Jerusalem artichoke inulin into various products (a composite of work by Aravina etal., 2001 Barta, 1993 Jietal., 2002 Vogel, 1993). Abbreviations dp = degree of polymerization scFOC = short-chain fructooligosaccharides. 

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