How Is Inulin Used in Dairy Products? What About Other Types of Food?

How Is Inulin Used in Dairy Products? What About Other Types of Food?

In recent years, the development and utilization of inulin has been highly valued by the international food industry and has been widely used in various foods such as dairy products, beverages, pasta products, meat products, etc.

In dairy products.

As an excellent fat substitute, inulin forms a creamy structure when completely mixed with water, which can give skim milk a smooth taste. The addition of inulin can promote the body's absorption of calcium in dairy products. In the production of yogurt, adding 6% inulin will reduce the whey precipitation rate and help improve the quality of yogurt. Adding 6% inulin to goat milk yogurt has a better taste.

Studies have shown that adding inulin to low-fat yogurt is conducive to the growth and fermentation of probiotics such as thermophilic Streptococcus, Bulgarian Lactobacillus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and increases the number of live bacteria during the storage period of yogurt. In yogurt fermented with thermophilic Streptococcus and different lactobacilli or bifidobacteria, adding 2% to 4% inulin can also increase the hardness of yogurt. The appropriate fat replacement level of inulin in set yogurt is 40%, and the appropriate addition amount of short-chain and long-chain inulin in skimmed milk beverages is 4%~10% and 4%~6%, respectively.

Various functional dairy products can be made by utilizing the special nutritional function of inulin. For example, adding oligofructose to non-fermented dairy products can solve the problems of getting angry and constipation in infants and middle-aged and elderly people, and also has the effect of lowering blood lipids and blood sugar; adding a low dose of inulin to skim milk can significantly increase the growth and life span of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis in non-fat fermented milk; supplementing a certain amount of oligofructose-rich inulin in infant diet can promote the intestinal microflora in the body to be closer to the level of breastfeeding, and it is safe and effective.

In flour products.

The appearance of inulin is similar to wheat flour, in the form of white powder, with good hydrophilicity, and can form a delicate and smooth texture after absorbing water. These characteristics of inulin can improve the processing performance of dough, improve product quality and nutritional value, and optimize the nutritional structure of products. Studies have shown that inulin can increase the dough formation time, stability time, powder index, tensile resistance, tensile ratio and tensile energy, and reduce the weakening degree of dough. Shortbread biscuits with inulin have a crispy taste, uniform texture, golden color, and lower in vitro digestibility than ordinary biscuits. Inulin can also increase the porosity, volume and specific volume of bread, shorten baking time, and delay bread aging.

In meat products.

In meat products, inulin is often used to replace its oil or starch substances to reduce product energy, increase dietary fiber content and improve the nutritional function of products. Inulin can also be used as a cryoprotectant for fish and meat products. Studies have shown that the product quality is best when 1.5% inulin is added to silver carp surimi. The hydroxyl part in inulin can bind to protein, inhibiting protein aggregation. The hydrogen bonds in the hydroxyl group can also bind to water molecules, reducing the mobility of water molecules and the content of freezable water, inhibiting the formation and growth of ice crystals, so inulin has a certain antifreeze protection effect. Short-chain inulin has the best antifreeze protection effect, natural inulin has the second best antifreeze protection effect, and long-chain inulin has the worst antifreeze protection effect.

In beverages.

Inulin is easily soluble in water, and is relatively stable to heat when the pH of the solution is greater than 4, so it can be widely used in various beverages. The addition of inulin can increase the consistency of beverages, solve the problem of thin taste of plant protein beverages, make the creaminess stronger and give people a soft feeling, make the beverage more flavorful and have a better texture, and inulin can promote the absorption rate of calcium by up to 70%. Therefore, beverages containing inulin not only have prebiotic functions, but also promote growth and development and prevent osteoporosis. Beverages with added inulin can significantly promote intestinal peristalsis in the elderly and increase the number of bowel movements by 13%.