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Journal of Scientific & Industrial ResearchVol. 62, September 2003, pp 916-920Preparation of Inulin from Chicory RootsAnil K Gupta', Navdeep Kaur and Narinder KaurDepartment of Biochemistry & Chemistry, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004Received: 18 December 2002; accepted: 12 May 2003Inulin has immense applications in health and nutrition as well as in food industries. Inulin is isolated from chicoryroots by differential precipitation with ethanol (0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 per cent) from the aqueous extract of sun-dried roots,by melting the frozen chicory root extract and by removing the oligo-fructosachharides from chicory roots with 20 per centethanol. Different inulin preparations so obtained are compared with some of the commercial inulin preparations. Sun-driedroots are as good as the fresh roots for isolation of inulin hut roots dried in an oven (80-90"C) have lower inulin content due tohydrolysis of tructans during drying. For better inulin yield. chicory roots should be extracted with water having pll adjustedto 7. pH of water on acidic side results in lower inulin recovery.Keywords: Inulin. Chicory roots, Oligo-fructosachharidcsIntroductionInulin and oligo-fructose (fructans with fructosepolymerization from 2 to 10) are officially recognizedas natural food ingredients in most Europeancountries and have a self-affirmed GRAS (generallyregarded as safe) status in the US. Inulin and oligo-fructose are prebiotics, are considered as functionalfoods as they alter physiological and biochemicalprocesses of the body for better health and preventrisk of many diseases. Inulin has been reported tostimulate the immune system of body, decreasepathogenic bacteria in intestine, relieve constipation,reduce risk of atherosclerosis and modulateshormonal level and hence blood glucose levelespecially in diabetics. It also lowers blood urea anduric acid levels, decreases the risk of osteoporosis byincreasing absorption of minerals, especially calciumand above all inulin is reported to decrease theincidence of colon cancer. Inulin and oligo-fructosehave wide applications in various types of foods like,confectionery, fruit preparations, milk deserts, yogurt,fresh cheese, baked goods, chocolates, ice-cream, andsauces. Inulin is less soluble in water and formsmicro-crystals when sheared in water and milk and• Corresponding authorE-mail: anilkguptatssatyam.nct.inhence can replace fat in table spreads. A detailedreview on uses of inulin in health and nutrition isgiven by Kaur and Gupta'.Consumer is health conscious and demandsfoods, which have low fat and low calories withadditional health benefits. In present day society theleading health concerns are heart disease, cancer, highcholesterol, obesity, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Inulinand oligofructose are widely used in functional foodsthroughout the world for their health promoting. 1 1properties" .Jerusalem artichoke iHelianthus tubcrosuss andchicory (Cichorium intvbuss are the two speciescurrently used by the industry to produce inulin andbelong to compositae, the latter being so far the mostcommonly used source".The roots of chicory store fructans as a reservematerial, which constitutes 15-20 per cent by freshweight (70 to 80 per cent of dry weight) of roar'. Theyield of chicory root on dry weight basis has beenreported to be 11-16 tlha which can give 8-12 tlha ofinulin if there is no loss during extraction andpurification",In spite of so many applications of inulin inhealth and nutrition, beside its applications in foodindustry, no work has been done on the isolation ofinulin from inulin storing plants in India. The present