Koji Nishizawa

Production and Characteristics of Fructo-Oligosaccharides

Fructo-oligosaccharides are short-chain fructans with a terminal or in-chain glucose moiety and are found in many plant species, such as onion, edible burdock, asparagus and others. A mixture of fructo-oligosaccharides, namely 1-kestose (GF2), nystose (GF3), and 1-fructofuranosylnystose (GF4), is commercially produced from sucrose through the transfructosylating action of an enzyme from Aspergillus niger. Fructo-oligosaccharides possess useful physical and physiological properties and good sensory qualities which make them widely applicable in food- and feedstuffs. They are stable at neutral pH and at temperatures up to 140 °C, and have a sweetness of good quality. Because fructo-oligosaccharides are non-digestible, after ingestion they pass through the small intestine without being metabolized, and thus reach the large intestine unaltered, where they are selectively utilized by bifidobacteria of the intestinal microflora. Many studies have shown that fructo-oligosaccharides relieve constipation, improve the blood lipid composition in hyperlipidaemia, and suppress the production of intestinal putrefactive substances in both animals and humans. These results indicate the usefulness of fructo-oligosaccharides as a new sweetener, and as a healthy ingredient of foods and feeds.