Oligofructose, also known as fructooligosaccharides, is a type of indigestible carbohydrate composed largely of fructose, or fruit sugar. Additionally, it’s a kind of plant-based soluble fiber known as inulin, meaning that oligofructose isn’t digested by the intestines due to lack of necessary enzymes to break it down.
What is oligosaccharide?
Oligofructose is a subgroup of the fiber known as Inulin. It is also known as fructooligosaccharide. Oligofructose is an insoluble fiber that is not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract so we do not get any calories from it.
What is the gut flora?
Probiotics are organisms that set up residence in our small and large intestines. They are collectively known as gut flora. These tiny living cells have many benefits in your body, including the alleviation of gas, bloating, diarrhea and constipation. If the balance between beneficial and harmful microbes gets imbalanced, you could get sick. Many new studies are beginning to show how the gut flora impacts skin health, mood, disease states, obesity and more. The composition of gut flora is affected by many factors; antibiotic use, stress, chemical exposure and more. It is imperative to good health to maintain a healthy balance of probiotics.
Is probiotic fiber a prebiotic?
It is about half as sweet as table sugar and it can be taken in supplement form as a powder or a pill. Many probiotics supplements also contain prebiotics.
Where can oligofructose be found?
Furthermore, oligofructose can be found in mass-manufactured of foods as a sugar substitute or as a part of dietary fibers.
How to avoid oligofructose?
The best way to avoid oligofructose is to not eat any of the above mentioned foods and food products. Those who struggle with completely cutting these foods and food products out of their diets can simply limit their consumption.
What is oligosaccharide?
Oligofructose, also known as fructooligosaccharides, is a type of indigestible carbohydrate composed largely of fructose, or fruit sugar.
Can oligofructose cause gas?
People with FODMAP (or Fermentable Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides and Polyols) allergies fall under this category. Even a small amount of oligofructose can lead to these people experiencing diarrhea and gas.
Does oligofructose cause bloating?
An imbalance of gut bacteria can lead to a variety of digestive problems, including but not limited to bloating, flatulence, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea. Taking more than 10 g of oligofructose a day has been found to lead to excessive flatulence and bloating.
Is oligofructose a plant based soluble fiber?
Oligofructose, also known as fructooligosaccharides, is a type of indigestible carbohydrate composed largely of fructose, or fruit sugar. Additionally, it’s a kind of plant-based soluble fiber known as inulin, meaning that oligofructose isn’t digested by the intestines due to lack of necessary enzymes to break it down.
Is oligofructose a prebiotic?
Oligofrucose instead serves a prebiotic or food source for gut bacteria. As such, oligofructose is believed to yield many of the health benefits associated with prebiotics as a whole. These include improving digestive health, relieving constipation, and possibly aiding in weight loss.
What is oligoflucose inspired ideas?
Inspiring ideas with Oligofructose offer new angles of product positioning towards consumers & market insights. They are substantiated by science and come with a regulatory guideline .
What is the 100% natural sugar replacer?
Oligofructose: the 100% natural sugar replacer. Oligofructose is an inulin-type fructan and is derived from Inulin through partial enzymatic hydrolysis. This conversion is a process that occurs naturally within the chicory root towards the end of the harvest.
Is sugar out, fibre in, the best sugar replacer?
Sugar out, fibre in, the ideal sugar replacer. With a sweetness profile of minimally 30% that of sucrose, the benefits reach beyond the nutritional benefits of fibre. Its mildly sweet taste and sugar-like technical properties makes it the perfect natural sugar replacer.
What are the monomeric units in FOS?
Generally short-chain FOS contains a β- (2-1) glycosidic linkage of glucose and fructose, and different arrangements of monomeric units are observed in different FOS, such as 1-fructofuranosyl-nystose, nystose, and 1-kestose [4,36,42,43]. From these molecules kestose is synthesized by joining one fructose with sucrose, and nystose is synthesized by attaching another molecule of fructose. Further addition of a fructose unit synthesizes fructofuranosyl-nystose [44].
What are the most common GFn molecules?
In addition to kestose, nystose (one glucose and three fructose molecules) and fructosyl nystose (one glucose and four fructose molecules) are the most common GFn molecules (Fig. 2 ). They are also referred as GF2, GF3, and GF4, respectively.
What enzymes are involved in FOS production?
The enzymes involved in FOS production are mainly invertases and inulinases. Invertase or β-fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26) catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose to produce an equimolar solution of fructose and glucose. In high sucrose concentrations, some β-fructofuranosidases can have transfructosylating activity, transferring fructose to sucrose, producing GFn. The β-fructofuranosidase with this specific activity is named fructosyltransferase (EC 2.4.1.9) ( de Almeida et al., 2018 ). Endoinulinases (EC 3.2.1.7) hydrolyze internal β-2,1 fructofuranosidic linkages of inulin releasing mainly inulotriose, inulotetraose and inulopentose as products ( Singh et al., 2020 ).
What is FOS in plants?
FOS occur in a number of plants such as chicory, onions, asparagus, and wheat.
Where is FOS found?
FOS is present naturally in fruits, vegetables, and cereals, and as reserve material in onion, chicory, asparagus, garlic, tomatoes, wheat, etc. [3,40]. It is also termed as inulin, fructan, glucofructan, and oligofructan [37].
Is FOS a value added product?
FOS is also a value-added product with growing market potential. FOS is recognized as an inulin-type fructan and is widely used as a functional food [36]. It is one of the important oligosaccharides that are suggested as bifidogenic. The main monomeric unit of this oligosaccharide is fructose with a terminal glucose unit joined by β- (2-1) glycosidic bond and structure that contains repetition of inulobiose, levanobiose, and sucrose [3,37,38]. Due to presence of a β- (2-1) glycosidic bond these are not processed by the digestive enzymes of the mammalian digestive system [39].
Does FOS help with flatulence?
It was observed that FOS has helped in the reduction in flatulence and Clostredium [49,50].
Why do fructooligosaccharides resist hydrolysis?
Because of the configuration of their glycosidic bonds, fructooligosaccharides resist hydrolysis by salivary and intestinal digestive enzymes. In the colon they are fermented by anaerobic bacteria. In other words, they have a lower caloric value, while contributing to the dietary fiber fraction of the diet.
What is FOS sugar?
FOS exhibits sweetness levels between 30 and 50 percent of sugar in commercially prepared syrups. It occurs naturally, and its commercial use emerged in the 1980s in response to consumer demand for healthier and calorie-reduced foods.
What is FOS in chemistry?
Jump to navigation Jump to search. Fructooligosaccharides ( FOS) also sometimes called oligofructose or oligofructan, are oligosaccharide fructans, used as an alternative sweetener. FOS exhibits sweetness levels between 30 and 50 percent of sugar in commercially prepared syrups.
How is FOS produced?
FOS can be produced by degradation of inulin, or polyfructose, a polymer of D -fructose residues linked by β (2→1) bonds with a terminal α (1→2) linked D -glucose. The degree of polymerization of inulin ranges from 10 to 60. Inulin can be degraded enzymatically or chemically to a mixture of oligosaccharides with the general structure Glu–Fru n ...
Where does FOS come from?
FOS is extracted from the blue agave plant as well as fruits and vegetables such as bananas, onions, chicory root, garlic, asparagus, jícama, and leeks. Some grains and cereals, such as wheat and barley, also contain FOS.
Is FOS a dietary fibre?
Calcium is more soluble in acid, and, therefore, more of it comes out of food and is available to move from the gut into the bloodstream. FOS can be considered a small dietary fibre with (like all types of fibre) low caloric value. The fermentation of FOS results in the production of gases and acids.
Is FOS a sweetener?
FOS has been a popular sweetener in Japan and Korea for many years, even before 1990, when the Japanese government installed a "Functionalized Food Study Committee" of 22 experts to start to regulate "special nutrition foods or functional foods" that contain the categories of fortified foods (e.g., vitamin-fortified wheat flour), and is now becoming increasingly popular in Western cultures for its prebiotic effects. FOS serves as a substrate for microflora in the large intestine, increasing the overall gastrointestinal tract health. It has also been proposed as a supplement for treating yeast infections.
