Evaluation of Fructooligosaccharides and Inulins as Potentially Health Benefiting Food Ingredients by HPAEC-PED and MALDI-TOF MS.

Chiara Borromei,Lisa Elviri,Antonella Cavazza,Cristiana Merusi,Claudio Corradini,Alessandro Mangia,Maria Careri

doi:10.1155/2009/530639

Chiara Borromei, Lisa Elviri + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/530639

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Abstract

This paper describes the complementarity of high-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed electrochemical detection (HPAEC-PED) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to evaluate commercial available fructans (fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulins), having different degrees of polymerization (DP) which are usually employed by food industry as functional ingredients either for their prebiotic properties or as a fat replacer, giving a fat-like mouth feel and texture. The developed HPAEC-PED methods are able to analyze FOS (fructans with DP 3–10) and inulins (DP ranging from 3 to 80) with a good resolution and relatively short retention times to evaluate structural differences between fructooligosaccharide and inulins and the possible presence of inulooligosaccharides as well as of branching. To characterize FOS and inulin at different degrees of polymerization and to assure correct molecular assignment, MALDI-TOF MS analysis was also investigated. The 2,5-dihydroxy benzoic acid (2,5-DHB) was found to be the best matrix for FOS analysis as Actilight and Raftilose P95 products, while 3-aminoquinoline (3-AQ) seems to be the best matrix for inulin with higher DP. The applicability of the optimized methods to the identification and determination of FOS contained in a symbiotic milk as well as a type of inulin added as functional ingredient to a cooked ham is demonstrated.

Highlights

Fructans are carbohydrate polymers consisting of a sucrose molecule that is elongated by a chain of fructosyl units connected through β-(2 → 1) or β-(2 → 6) linkages [1], depending on the linkage type they are called inulin and levans, respectively.Inulin has been defined as a polydisperse carbohydrate material consisting mainly, if not exclusively, of β-(2 → 1) fructosyl-fructose linkes, containing one terminal glucose as in sucrose and having the generic chemical structure GFn
In the first part of our work, the average degree of polymerization (DP) and distribution of oligo- and polysaccharides in commercial FOS and inulins having different molecular weight distribution were qualitatively evaluated by HPAECPED
The assignment of the chromatographic peaks with degrees of polymerization (DP) higher than 3 was based on the generally accepted assumptions that the retention time of a homologous series of carbohydrates increased as the DP increased, and that each successive peak represented a glucofructan which had a fructose more than that of the previous peak

Summary

Introduction

Fructans are carbohydrate polymers consisting of a sucrose molecule that is elongated by a chain of fructosyl units connected through β-(2 → 1) or β-(2 → 6) linkages [1], depending on the linkage type they are called inulin and levans, respectively. Inulin has been defined as a polydisperse carbohydrate material consisting mainly, if not exclusively, of β-(2 → 1) fructosyl-fructose linkes, containing one terminal glucose as in sucrose and having the generic chemical structure GFn (with G as glucose, F as fructose, and n indicating DP). Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) with DP 3–9 (average DP 4.5) are produced during the process of chemical degradation or controlled enzymatic hydrolysis of inulin by endoglycosidases [3, 4]. FOS can be produced on a commercial scale, from sucrose, using a fungal enzyme from either Aureobasidium sp. [5] or Aspergillus niger [6]

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