The effects of inulin on the microbial composition and faecal characteristics in 36 healthy, formula-fed infants (average age 7.7 months) given 3 different daily dosages of native inulin (0.75 g/day, 1.00 g/day, and 1.25 g/day) were studied. At all levels of inulin consumption, a significant (p<0.05) reduction of potential pathogenic microorganisms such as clostridia was found. An intake of 1.25 g/day of inulin caused a significant (p<0.05) increase of Bifidobacterium spp. as well as a significant (p<0.05) decline in Gram-positive cocci and coliform bacteria.

To know whether these results are extended to different types of flours that can be used for biscuit production, this paper aimed to analyse the effects of different levels of inulin incorporation on dough and biscuits quality made from three different wheat flours and one triticale flour. Inulin incorporation increased dough spreading and biscuit factor and decreased biscuit hardness.

Inulin as a heterogeneous blend of fructose polymers is diversely found in nature primarily as storage carbohydrates in plants. Besides, inulin is believed to induce certain techno-functional and associated properties in food systems. Inulin owing to its foam forming ability has been successfully used as fat replacer in quite a wide range of products as dairy and baked products. Furthermore, it is known to impart certain nutritional and therapeutic benefits that extend apart to improve health and reduce the risk of many lifestyle related diseases. Additionally, as a functional ingredient, Inulin has been adopted in various efficacy studies involving animal and human studies to function as a prebiotic, in promoting good digestive health, influencing lipid metabolism and has some beneficial roles in ensuring optimum levels of glucose and insulin. This review article is an attempt to present a comprehensive overview on both techno-functional and therapeutic potential of inulin.

The emulsification properties of a series of inulin samples modified using varying amounts of octenyl- and dodecenyl-succinic anhydride have been studied by determining the droplet size as a function of time, temperature and in the presence of electrolyte using laser diffraction. It was found that ~2% modified inulin was required to stabilise 15% w/v medium chain triglyceride emulsions and that the minimum droplet size was achieved when the % hydrophobe content was >8 mol%.

The continuous proliferation of intestinal stem cells followed by their tightly regulated diferentiation to epithelial cells is essential for the maintenance of the gut epithelial barrier and its functions. How these processes are tuned by diet and gut microbiome is an important, but poorly understood question. Dietary soluble fbers, such as inulin, are known for their ability to impact the gut bacterial community and gut epithelium, and their consumption has been usually associated with health improvement in mice and humans. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that inulin consumption modifes the composition of colonic bacteria and this impacts intestinal stem cells functions, thus affecting the epithelial structure.