Inulin

Core Functional Properties

● Extremely Low Calorie Supply

Inulin cannot be digested and absorbed in the human stomach and small intestine, and only generates energy via fermentation by intestinal flora in the large intestine. Its calorific value is approximately 1.2 kcal/g, far lower than sucrose (4 kcal/g), making it an ideal bulking dietary fiber ingredient for low-calorie, calorie-controlled and weight-loss formulations.

● High Water Solubility & Strong Processing Tolerance

Fully soluble in both cold and hot water to form a clear, moderately viscous aqueous solution. Its molecular structure remains stable under acidic juice systems, high-temperature baking, high-pressure sterilization for meat products and other working conditions without crystallization, precipitation or stratification, compatible with the vast majority of food processing technologies.

● Low Glycemic Index, Insulin-Friendly Carbohydrate

Hardly degraded in the small intestine, it will not rapidly enter the bloodstream to cause blood glucose spikes. With an extremely low GI value, it imposes no extra burden on insulin metabolism and is suitable for long-term consumption by diabetics, individuals with impaired glucose tolerance and people pursuing sugar control and weight management.

● Potent Natural Prebiotic for Targeted Proliferation of Intestinal Beneficial Bacteria

Upon reaching the colon intact, it acts as a dedicated fermentable carbon source to selectively boost the growth of beneficial flora such as Bifidobacteria, Lactobacilli and Lactobacillus acidophilus, competitively occupying the survival niche of harmful bacteria including Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens and Bacteroides, so as to bidirectionally balance the intestinal microecology.

● Superb Water Absorption & Retention to Delay Food Aging & Deterioration

Possesses excellent water molecule binding capacity. When added to baked goods and cereal products, it locks free water, retards starch retrogradation and aging, maintains the soft texture of cakes and breads and effectively extends shelf life. It optimizes water holding capacity in sauces and meat products to boost yield rates.

● Non-Cariogenic, Oral-Friendly Ingredient

Salivary amylase in the oral cavity cannot break down inulin, and oral pathogenic bacteria cannot utilize it to ferment and produce organic acids that erode tooth enamel. Applied in sugar-free candies, chewing gums and compressed tablets, it effectively reduces caries risk.

Physiological Regulatory Functions

As a highly active natural plant-derived water-soluble dietary fiber, inulin delivers systematic physiological conditioning effects for groups suffering from intestinal disorders, metabolic imbalance, weakened immunity and age-related metabolic decline in the elderly:

● Bidirectional Intestinal Regulation to Alleviate Constipation and Diarrhea

It absorbs water and expands in the intestinal tract to increase stool volume, stimulate colonic peristalsis and soften impacted feces for relief of slow-transit refractory constipation. It optimizes flora composition to reduce intestinal inflammatory responses, mitigate chronic diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome triggered by flora disturbance, and rebuild regular autonomous intestinal motility.

● Satiety & Weight Control to Assist Fat Reduction and Body Shaping

It absorbs water in the stomach to form a gel-like substance, delay gastric emptying and deliver long-lasting satiety to naturally cut calorie intake from main meals and snacks. It physically encapsulates part of dietary fat in the gut to reduce excessive lipid absorption and support weight management.

● Modulation of Postprandial Blood Glucose and Lipid Metabolism

It slows the absorption rate of free glucose in the small intestine to flatten postprandial blood glucose peaks. It binds bile acids in the intestinal tract for excretion via feces, accelerates hepatic cholesterol catabolism, and helps lower serum triglycerides and LDL-C levels.

● Improved Intestinal Absorption Rate of Minerals

Short-chain fatty acids generated from probiotic fermentation lower local colonic pH, acidify the intestinal microenvironment, promote dissociation of mineral ions including calcium, iron, zinc and magnesium, enhance their transintestinal absorption efficiency, and assist in improving senile osteoporosis in the elderly and iron-deficiency anemia in women.

● Repair of Intestinal Mucosal Barrier to Indirectly Boost Systemic Immunity

Short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate produced by flora fermentation fuel colonic epithelial cells, repair damaged intestinal villi, close gaps between epithelial cells and alleviate leaky gut syndrome. An intact and healthy intestinal mucosal barrier activates gut-associated lymphoid tissues, elevates the body’s basal resistance and reduces the incidence of recurrent inflammation and allergies.

Product Applications

● Food & Beverage Industry

➢ Dairy Products

• Yogurt & fermented lactic acid drinks: Thickens and stabilizes texture, enhances mellow and smooth mouthfeel, serves as a fermentation substrate for live probiotics to extend their shelf survival and reduce whey separation

• Adult formula milk powder, high-fiber milk powder for seniors, sugar-free goat milk powder: Reinforces dietary fiber claims; excellent powder dispersion and dissolution without agglomeration or wall sticking when blended with milk matrices

• Cheese, milk pudding, low-temperature fermented desserts: Stabilizes colloidal structure, inhibits miscellaneous bacteria growth under cold storage and prolongs cold chain shelf life

➢ Baked Foods

• Bread, cakes, shortbread, cookies: Replaces partial sucrose and oil to lower total formula calories, locks moisture to resist staling, prevents hardening and crumbling of bread and cakes, and optimizes dough moldability and baking ductility

• Meal replacement energy bars, grain crisps, whole-grain baked meal replacements: Elevates dietary fiber content, strengthens satiety and highlights low-fat and low-sugar health selling points

➢ Various Beverages

• Functional oral liquid with dietary fiber, solid powdered drinks: Enables clear labeling of high inulin addition and dietary fiber content for gut-cleansing and digestion-promoting functional beverages

• Plant-based milk, soybean milk, nut milk: Reduces heavy greasy texture of protein drinks, masks beany and herbal bitter off-notes and improves palatability

• Fruit juices, fruit vinegar, herbal tea, sugar-free sparkling water: Slightly increases beverage viscosity, stabilizes the system against precipitation and adapts to long-term storage in acidic conditions

➢ Candies, Chocolates & Compressed Tablets

• Sugar-free hard candies, gummy candies, throat lozenges: Improves taste when compounded with erythritol, steviol glycosides and other sweeteners and reduces caries risk

• Meal replacement chewable tablets, dietary fiber compressed candies: Acts as the core functional ingredient with stable carrier performance and excellent tableting formability

• Chocolate products: Replaces partial fats to cut calories, boosts high-temperature resistance and inhibits blooming and whitening in summer

➢ Sauces & Condiments

• Salad dressing, mayonnaise, hot pot dipping sauces, compound thick soups: Simulates the rich mouthfeel of oil, reduces vegetable oil dosage, functions as thickener and stabilizer and prevents oil-water separation

• Tomato ketchup, fruit jam, fruit puree: Enhances solid substance stability and delays water separation and stratification

➢ Meat Products

• Low-temperature ham, sausages, luncheon meat, prepared meat dishes: Acts as humectant to raise cooking yield, improves dry and tough texture of low-fat meat products and optimizes slicing integrity

• Quick-frozen meatballs, surimi products: Strengthens filling cohesiveness and cuts cooking loss

● Health Foods & Dietary Supplements

• Pure dietary fiber powder, bottled tablets, plant capsules: Standalone high-fiber inulin supplements focusing on laxation and intestinal care

• Compound probiotic capsules / oral liquids: Prebiotic synergistic carrier that greatly improves intestinal colonization rate and viability of multi-strain probiotics, a blockbuster compound raw material for gastrointestinal conditioning products

• Weight management formulas, blood lipid/glucose regulators, multi-nutrient tablets for the elderly: Synergistically boosts mineral absorption to address dual demands of intestinal health and metabolic regulation

• Detoxification and intestinal repair functional dietary products

● Pet Food

• Complete dog & cat staple diets, senior veterinary prescription pet foods: Optimizes pet intestinal flora, reduces soft stool, stress-induced diarrhea and fecal odor, improves feed digestibility and lowers the incidence of chronic gastroenteritis

• Pet gastrointestinal conditioning treats, weaning milk replacer for young pets: Sustains digestive tract homeostasis of companion animals in long term

• Ornamental fish and aquafeed: Improves fish intestinal digestion and reduces ammonia nitrogen pollution from excrements in water bodies

● Cosmetics & Personal Care

• Skin lotion, moisturizing cream: Natural polysaccharide humectant that captures ambient water molecules to boost skin hydration and optimize cream texture and sensory feel

• Shampoos, hair conditioners: Adjusts system viscosity and enhances hair smoothness and combability

• Toothpaste, oral mouthwash: Works as thickener and stabilizer to gently modulate the texture of oral care formulations

● Pharmaceutical Field

• Oral pharmaceutical excipients: Filler and binder for tablets and granules with stable physicochemical properties and no adverse reactions with active pharmaceutical ingredients

• Enteral nutrition suspensions for special medical purposes: Supplemented with soluble dietary fiber to maintain normal intestinal physiological function of bedridden and post-operative patients

• Sustained-release matrix formulations: Assists in regulating the release rate of active ingredients

● Feed Industry

• Starter and nursery feeds for piglets, chicks and calves: Regulates intestinal flora of young livestock and poultry, alleviates weaning stress diarrhea, promotes intestinal villus development and supports the national policy of antibiotic reduction and replacement in breeding

• Compound feeds for laying and meat poultry: Reduces ammonia emission from manure, optimizes barn environment and improves egg and meat quality

• Compound feeds for fish, shrimp and crabs: Enhances pellet water stability and lowers the risk of water pollution from residual feed

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