Abstract
Yacon tubers have been a distinguished alternative of fructans, drawing the attention of researchers and food industries. Since fructans are carbohydrate reserves storage can reduce their contents. Additionally, the type of extraction used can provide a higher yield of fructans. Therefore, it was necessary to study yacon storage and its influence on the extraction and quantification of fructans. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate three fructan extractions (water 75°C, water 95°C, ethanol 90°C) in yacon with 3 sizes (large, medium, small), stored for 20 days, at room temperature as well as to compare two quantification techniques. The three extractions can be used when fructans are quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). For quantification by spectrometry, the best extraction method was ethanol at 90°C. Medium and small-sized tubers presented the highest contents of fructans that large tubers, and storage negatively influenced these contents. Fructan quantification by HPLC was higher than the spectrophotometric technique. All treatments showed a degree of polymerization in the range from 3 to 7, allowing numerous technological applications for fructans present in yacon. Key words: Fructooligosaccharides, storage, tuber size.
Highlights
Functional foods represent one of the latest trends in the market
The 36 tubers selected were divided into 3 groups of 12 tubers each, according to size, which constituted the treatments: small tubers, medium tubers and large tubers, which were stored for 20 days at room temperature (21°C, 52% RH), and the fructan contents of yacon were measured at two times: on the first day of storage and on the twentieth day of storage
It was observed that the type of solvent used influenced the extraction yield, with a higher fructan content (95.99 mg g-1) in the extract prepared with ethanol at 90°C in medium-sized tubers, at 20 days of storage
Summary
Functional foods represent one of the latest trends in the market. They have compounds which result in benefits to physiological and metabolic activities, in addition to strengthening the immune system, acting in the prevention and reduction of chronic degenerative diseases. The food industry has a growing interest in improving the nutritional benefits of products, without compromising their technological properties (Delgado et al, 2010; Castro et al, 2013). Fructans are a polysaccharide group which has received great attention in recent years, mainly inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
