Potential Medicinal and Nutritional Uses of Chicory Roots and Inulin

Abstract

ABSTRACT A significant increase in hepatic total lipid and triglyceride content was observed when rats were injected either with 2 ml ethanol kg −1 body weight for 10 days or with 0.5 mg dexamethasone kg −1 body weight for 13 days. Inclusion of 3 or 5% chicory roots in the feed of rats along with ethanol and dexamethasone injections, respectively, led to a significant reduction in the content of hepatic total lipids and triglycerides of these rats. Chicory roots also reduced the level of plasma triglycerides in ethanol-injected rats. As compared with normal feed the feed supplemented with chicory roots helped in the fast recovery of fatty liver caused by dexamethasone. Chicory roots given in normal feed for a period of 5 months lowered the content of hepatic total lipids, cholesterol and triglycerides. Besides these potential medicinal uses of chicory roots, chicory root inulin could be used for the enzymatic production of fructose. To this end, synthesis of an extracellular inulinase was induced in Fusarium oxysporum by growing it on a medium containing chicory root extract as carbon source. Salt-soluble proteins from soybean and mungbean were made water-insoluble by heat treatment and inulinase, partially purified by ammonium sulphate fractionation, was immobilized by cross-linking it with these insoluble proteins. The immobilized inulinases had a higher temperature optimum (45 °C) than free inulinase (37 °C). Inulinase was also immobilized on DEAE-cellulose. Immobilized enzyme was used for the production of fructose from chicory root inulin.