Introduction. Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is grown primarily for its edible tubers, which were first cultivated by native Americans before the arrival of the Europeans. Unlike most tubers, but in common with other members of the Asteraceae, the tubers store fructans instead of starch. Fructans are non-digestible carbohydrates considered functional food ingredients because they...

BACKGROUND & AIMS Observational studies suggest dietary fructose restriction might lead to sustained symptomatic response in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and fructose malabsorption. The aims of this study were first to determine whether the efficacy of this dietary change is due to dietary fructose restriction and second to define whether symptom relief was specific to free fruc...

In wheat, stem water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), composed mainly of fructans, are the major carbon sources for grain filling during periods of decreasing photosynthesis or under drought stress after anthesis. Here, in a field drought experiment, WSC levels and associated enzyme activities were followed in different stem segments (peduncle, penultimate internode, lower parts of stem, and sheath...

This paper describes the complementarity of high-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed electrochemical detection (HPAEC-PED) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to evaluate commercial available fructans (fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and inulins), having different degrees of polymerization (DP) which are usually employed by foo...