Inulin is a natural reserve polysaccharide that is widely distributed in nature and is most abundant in plants, such as common onions, garlic, bananas, and wheat. Inulin has the highest content among plants of the Asteraceae family, represented by Jerusalem artichokes and chicory.
Inulin is soluble in water, and brewing with hot water is beneficial to its dissolution; it tastes slightly sweet, with a sweetness of about 10% that of sucrose. Although inulin contains a small amount of monosaccharides and disaccharides, it is basically not decomposed or absorbed when passing through the human mouth, stomach and small intestine, so it will not affect blood sugar levels and insulin content.
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The effects of inulin include: regulating intestinal microbial community structure, regulating blood sugar levels, improving constipation, promoting mineral absorption, improving immunity, etc. It has been widely used in food processing such as dairy products, flour products, meat products and beverages as dietary fiber, prebiotics, fat and sugar substitutes, and texture and taste improvers.
Application of inulin
Applications in dairy products
As an excellent fat substitute, inulin forms a creamy structure when completely mixed with water, giving skim milk its smooth mouthfeel. The addition of inulin can promote the body's absorption of calcium in dairy products. In the production of yogurt, adding 6% inulin will reduce the whey precipitation rate and help improve the quality of yogurt. Adding 6% inulin to goat milk yogurt gives the product a better taste.
Studies have shown that adding inulin to low-fat yogurt is beneficial to the growth and fermentation of probiotics such as Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and increases the number of viable bacteria during the storage period of yogurt. In yogurt co-fermented by Streptococcus thermophilus and different lactobacilli or bifidobacteria, adding 2% to 4% inulin can also increase the hardness of the yogurt.
The appropriate fat replacement level of inulin in coagulated yogurt is 40%, and the appropriate addition amounts of short-chain and long-chain inulin in skimmed milk beverages are 4% to 10% and 4% to 6% respectively.
Various functional dairy products can be made using the special nutritional functions of inulin. For example, adding fructooligosaccharides to non-fermented dairy products can solve the problems of infants, young children, middle-aged and elderly people who are prone to getting angry and constipation, and can also reduce blood lipids and blood sugar. Adding low doses of inulin to skim milk can significantly increase the growth and longevity of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis in non-fat fermented milk. Supplementing a certain amount of inulin rich in fructo-oligosaccharides in the infant's diet can promote the intestinal microbiota in the body to be closer to the level of breastfeeding, and is safe and effective.
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Application in flour products
The appearance of inulin is similar to wheat flour, it is white powder, has good hydrophilicity, and can form a fine and smooth texture after absorbing water. Utilizing these characteristics of inulin can improve the processing performance of dough, improve product quality and nutritional value, and optimize the nutritional structure of the product.
Research shows that inulin can increase the formation time, stabilization time, farin index, tensile resistance, stretch ratio and tensile energy of dough, and reduce the weakening degree of dough. This is related to the fact that inulin increases the emulsifying activity and B-sheet content of wheat protein, reduces the B-turn content, and cross-links with gluten. This effect of inulin is closely related to its average degree of polymerization and addition amount. If excessive long-chain inulin (>5%) is added, it will have a significant negative effect on the quality of the dough and its products. This may be attributed to the large molecular weight and strong hydrophobicity of long-chain inulin.
When the dough is mixed with water, it is easy to form small particles with strong viscosity, resulting in uneven dough and destroying the gluten network structure. For short-chain and natural inulin, because its average degree of polymerization is low and it contains a certain amount of oligosaccharides, it has good hydrophilicity, is easy to dissolve or disperse in water, and is easy to disperse evenly in dough. Therefore, at a certain amount (<10%), it will promote the fermentation process of the dough, increase the total gas production and gas holding capacity of the dough, and give the product small, uniform and dense air cells and a soft and elastic texture. Crispy biscuits added with inulin have a crispy texture, uniform texture, golden color, and in vitro digestibility than ordinary biscuits. Inulin can increase the porosity, volume and specific volume of bread and shorten the baking time
Application in meat products
In meat products, inulin is often used to replace its oil or starch substances to reduce product energy, increase dietary fiber content and improve the nutritional function of the product. Inulin partially replaces the fat in sausage, which to a certain extent will increase its hardness, stickiness and recovery, and reduce its elasticity, chewiness and cohesion. This is mainly related to the fact that the texture of fat is softer than inulin gel.
Adding 20% inulin to beef balls can reduce the fat and trans fatty acid content, moisture, salt content, cooking loss and redness variable values, and increase the brightness value and ash content. Using 0.2%-3.0% inulin to replace the fat in Lyon-style sausages, the fat content in the sausages is reduced by 32% to 88%, the juiciness becomes better, and the roughness and hardness of the meat are reduced.
Partially replacing the starch in sausage with short-chain inulin will reduce its hardness, chewiness, cohesion, juiciness and cooking loss rate, increase its adhesiveness and recovery, and improve its sensory quality. Inulin can also be used as a cryoprotectant for fish and meat products. Studies have shown that adding 1.5% inulin to silver carp surimi has the best quality products. The hydroxyl part in inulin can combine with proteins, and the hydrogen bonds in the hydroxyl group can also combine with water molecules, reducing the mobility of water molecules and the content of freezable water. Therefore, inulin has a certain anti-freeze protection effect.
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Application in drink products
Inulin is easily soluble in water. When the pH of the solution is greater than 4, it is relatively stable against heat, so it can be widely used in various beverages, such as juices, functional drinks, sports drinks, solid drinks, plant protein drinks, etc. After adding inulin to beverages, it can not only replace fat and sugar, improve the water-binding capacity of the product and increase the viscosity, but also give the product a high dietary fiber content. And improve the absorption rate of calcium, magnesium, iron and other minerals (>20%), mask their bitter taste. The addition of inulin can increase the consistency of the drink, solve the problem of the thin taste of plant protein drinks, make the milk fatter and give people a softer feeling, and make the drink stronger in flavor and better in texture. Inulin promotes calcium absorption by up to 70%, so drinks containing inulin not only have prebiotic functions, but can also promote growth and development and prevent osteoporosis. Beverages added with inulin can significantly promote intestinal peristalsis in the elderly and increase the frequency of defecation by 13%.
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Other aspects
Adding inulin to soy products improves their gelling properties and textural properties. Inulin can increase the viscoelasticity and gelling properties of soft tofu, which may be related to the water-holding and gelling properties of inulin.
Inulin can be used as a natural antioxidant in the oil industry. Research shows that inulin has a certain antioxidant effect on rapeseed oil and has a synergistic effect with VC, citric acid, etc.
In chocolate, inulin can improve its texture and texture, increase its whiteness and extend its shelf life. Sugar-free chocolate made with inulin instead of sucrose has better viscosity, hardness and color.
The jelly added with inulin has a more uniform texture, better flavor, and is nutritious and healthy.
HSF Biotech's inulin powder
HSF Biotech is a raw material manufacturer and supplier for the global health industry, specializing in the research, development and production of raw materials and related derivatives for the health industry.
Excellent product quality: From raw material procurement to every aspect of the production process, we conduct strict monitoring and testing to ensure the stability and consistency of the final product.
Diversified product applications: Inulin can be used as an excellent fat substitute, high-fiber food ingredient and prebiotic food ingredient, and is suitable for the processing and production of a variety of foods.
Strong R&D support: We have a professional R&D team that continuously promotes innovation and improvement of inulin production processes to meet the changing market and customer needs. Continuously launch new products and solutions to help customers maintain a competitive advantage in the market.
Perfect after-sales service: We are committed to long-term tracking and guarantee of product quality to ensure that customers have no worries when using our inulin products.
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