Molecule of the week

Fructans
Carbohydrate molecules are extremely diverse from
many points of view- chemical, structural, solubility,
taste, functionality in foods as well as health and
nutritional aspects. The fructans are quite unusual and
there is considerable current interest in their use as food
ingredients because of their unusual properties.

In the structure of the molecule, n can vary:

1. for different plant
sources;
2. within any one
sample/source
because fructans are
polydisperse;

Where are fructans found? This group of

polysaccharides occurs in a variety of different plant
species. Included are some common foods, with the best
known being onions and related species (garlic,
shallots, chives). Wheat plants and other cereals contain
these polymers in low concentrations. Over recent years
fructans have been extracted for use as a food
ingredient and the plant used for this has been chickory,
reflecting the higher amounts present.

The presence of fructose

and the dp helps us to
understand some
significant aspects of
fructan behaviour and
applications

clues on the structure: fruct- firstly tells us that fructose

units (the monomer) are linked covalently into a bigger
molecular structure. Secondly, the latter part of the
name -an indicates a polymeric molecule - hence
fructans are polysaccharides primarily consisting of
fructose.

CH2OH

CH2
O
CH2OH

CH2OH

Fructans as prebiotics This term refers to molecules

which are not hydrolysed by the enzymes we produce in
our digestive tract. They are, however, utilised by the
friendly bacteria (referred to as probiotics) that
populate our lower digestive tract. Hence prebiotics can
be considered as dietary fibre. The ability of the bacteria
to use fructans as a food source benefits us as the good
bacteria promote our health and wellbeing.

Typically, fructans found so far in most plants are

similar to each other, but they are unlike most other
polysaccharides in all living things. Usually natural
polysaccharides have at least one hundred sugar groups
linked covalently to give the complete structure. Many,
including starches in many food ingredients have
thousands but the fructans are most commonly made up
of around twenty and this is known as the degree of
polymerisation (abbreviated DP or dp). Therefore
fructans are unusually small compared to most
polysaccharides.

Structure of fructans As with most

polysaccharides, fructans are linear chains of the
monomeric units (see the diagram). For most of the
different plant sources that have been studied there is
one glucose unit also present at one end of the chain
(this is non-reducing).

3. often within the range

of 20 to 40.

Molecular properties The name gives us some

Properties of fructans As with carbohydrates

generally, fructans are hydrophilic, attracting a crowd
of water molecules which form hydrogen bonds with
the many free hydroxyl groups exposed on the surface
of the chain. This, in combination with the bonding
pattern between the fructose units, and particularly the
low average degree of polymerisation, mean that
fructans are very readily soluble in water. The
shortness of the chains restricts the impact of adding
fructans on viscosity and mouthfeel of foods, unlike
many of the other polysaccharides added into foods
(such as guar gum and xanthan).

CH2OH

RMIT research on fructans The source from

which fructans have been extracted in Europe is chickory
and the resultant food ingredient is often referred to as
inulin. In seeking an alternative, the plant Jerusalem
artichoke was selected as this is suited to production in
Victoria. The fructans from this source have recently
been extracted and characterised [1]. In a related study,
options for synthesis of lactulose (another prebiotic) were
investigated [2]. Finally, the fructan was shown to be
effective as an ingredient in the formulation of yoghurt
products [3].

References and further reading

1] Paseephol T, Small DM, Sherkat F. 2007. Process
optimisation for fractionating Jerusalem artichoke
fructans with ethanol using response surface
methodology. Food Chem 104(1):73-80.
2] Paseephol T, Small DM, Sherkat F. 2008. Lactulose
production from milk concentration permeate using
calcium carbonate-based catalysts. Food Chem
111(2):283-90.
3] Paseephol T, Small DM, Sherkat F. 2008. Rheology
and texture of set yoghurt as affected by inulin
addition. J Texture Studies 39(6):617-34.

Prepared by Assoc Prof Darryl Small (v4, Sept 2012)

questions/feedback to <darryl.small@rmit.edu.au>