INULIN PRODUCT

Abstract

A polydisperse inulin product has a factor L, defined as a ratio S/D, wherein:

S equals the sum of the compounds GF.sub.2, F.sub.3, and F.sub.4 in the inulin product, expressed in wt. % on total carbohydrates;

D equals [(F.sub.i/G.sub.i)+1], wherein F.sub.i is the amount of inulin-related fructose in the inulin product, G.sub.i is the amount of inulin-related glucose in the inulin product, whereby F.sub.i and G.sub.i are expressed in wt. % on total carbohydrates,

wherein the value of L lies between 2.0 and 3.0 and wherein between 3 and 20 wt. % on total carbohydrates of the inulin product is:

GF.sub.n compounds wherein n is 10 or greater, and/or

F.sub.m compounds wherein m is 11 or greater.

Claims

1. A polydisperse inulin product having a factor L, defined as a ratio S/D, wherein: S equals a sum of the compounds GF.sub.2, F.sub.3, and F.sub.4 in the inulin product, expressed in wt. % on total carbohydrates; D equals [(F.sub.i/G.sub.i)+1], wherein F.sub.i is an amount of inulin-related fructose in the inulin product, G.sub.i is an amount of inulin-related glucose in the inulin product, whereby F.sub.i and G.sub.i are expressed in wt. % on total carbohydrates, wherein the value of L lies between 2.0 and 3.0, and wherein between 3 and 20 wt. % of total carbohydrates of the inulin product comprises: GF.sub.n compounds wherein n is 10 or greater, and/or F.sub.m compounds wherein m is 11 or greater.

2. The inulin product according to claim 1, wherein the inulin product contains at most 30 wt. % of total carbohydrates of non-inulin carbohydrates.

3. The inulin product according to claim 1, wherein the value of L lies between 2.2 and 2.8.

4. The inulin product according to claim 1, wherein the inulin product is derived from native chicory inulin.

5. An aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution, comprising the inulin product of claim 1, dispersed or dissolved in water or an aqueous phase.

6. A food product or animal feed or pet food product, containing an inulin product as claimed in claim 1.

7. A food product or animal feed or pet food product, containing an aqueous dispersion or an aqueous solution of an inulin product as claimed in claim 5.

8. (canceled)

9. A process for the preparation of an inulin product as claimed in claim 1, comprising the steps of: a preparatory step, wherein an inulin raw material is brought into aqueous solution to form an inulin solution, wherein the inulin raw material has a value of factor L below 2.0 and contains between 8 and 75 wt. % of GF.sub.n compounds wherein n is 10 or greater and/or F.sub.m, compounds wherein m is 11 or greater; and a conversion step, wherein a hydrolysis of the inulin raw material in the inulin solution is executed, such that the inulin product is formed.

10. The process according to claim 9, wherein the inulin raw material is a native chicory inulin.

11. The process according to claim 10, wherein the native chicory inulin has a value of L lying between 0.25 and 0.75.

12. The inulin product according to claim 2, wherein the non-inulin carbohydrates are selected from the group consisting of free glucose, free fructose and sucrose.

13. The inulin product according to claim 2, wherein the value of L lies between 2.2 and 2.8.

14. The inulin product according to claim 2, wherein the inulin product is derived from native chicory inulin.

15. The inulin product according to claim 3, wherein the inulin product is derived from native chicory inulin.

16. An aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution, comprising the inulin product of claim 2, dispersed or dissolved in water or an aqueous phase.

17. An aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution, comprising the inulin product of claim 3, dispersed or dissolved in water or an aqueous phase.

18. An aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution, comprising the inulin product of claim 4, dispersed or dissolved in water or an aqueous phase.

19. An aqueous dispersion or aqueous solution, comprising the inulin product of claim 12, dispersed or dissolved in water or an aqueous phase.

Description

EXAMPLE

[0042] Native inulin from chicory root was used as the inulin raw material. The value of factor L was determined according to the methods described above and was found to be 0.40. The weight percentage (on total carbohydrates) of compounds GF.sub.n and/or F.sub.m having a DP of 11 or higher was determined to be 50.6 wt. %.

[0043] The preparatory step of the invention was done by making a 28 wt. % aqueous solution of the inulin raw material at 64? C. The conversion step according to the invention was done in a batch reactor via enzymatic hydrolysis with a low dosage of 0.15 U/gram dry matter of Novozymes 960 (non-immobilized) as enzyme at 64? C. during 20 hours at pH 5.1. The hydrolysis was halted by bringing the pH to 6.5.

[0044] The resulting product was analysed using HGC according to the method as referred to above. Factor S was determined to be 25.4 wt. %; factor D was determined to be 10.8; consequently, factor L was calculated to be 2.35. The weight percentage (on total carbohydrates) of compounds of GF.sub.n and/or F.sub.m having a DP of 11 or higher was determined to be 15.9 wt. %. The non-inulin carbohydrates in the inulin product were free glucose, free fructose and sucrose, in a combined amount of 9.7 wt. %.

[0045] The aqueous solution of the inulin product was concentrated via evaporation to a solids content of 70 wt. %, which step also caused the enzyme to be permanently deactivated, then left undisturbed and allowed to cool to room temperature. No gel-forming was observed: not initially, nor after cooling down to room temperature.

Comparative Evaluation

[0046] An evaluation was made of example 1 of US-A-2001/016572. The evaluation yielded the following information: [0047] Table 1 of US-A-2001/016572 details, under the heading The composition of the invention . . . the composition of an inulin product. [0048] The inulin product contains 0.18 wt. % GF.sub.2, 32 wt. % F.sub.3, and 31.11 wt. % F.sub.4. It follows that the value of parameter S is 63.29. [0049] The inulin product was not prepared from native inulin, but rather from a raw material consisting of inulin having an average degree of polymerisation (DP) of 27, without any GF, free F, or free G. From this, it follows that parameter D has a value of 27. [0050] Factor L is 63.29/27 which equals 2.34 [0051] The inulin product does not contain any GFn compounds in which n is 10 or greater, nor any Fm compounds in which m is 11 or greater.

[0052] The inulin product of the Comparative Evaluation did not provide any significant texturizing properties to food products such as yoghurts or fruit preparations, in contrast to the inulin product of the Example according to the invention, which did provide such texturizing properties.