RT Journal Article
T1 Asparagus Fructans as Emerging Prebiotics
A1 Hamdi, Amel
A1 Viera-Alcaide, Isabel
A1 Guillén-Bejarano, Rafael
A1 Rodríguez-Arcos, Rocío
A1 Muñoz Ruiz, Manuel Jesús
A1 Monje, José Manuel
A1 Jiménez-Araujo, Ana
K1 Asparagus by-product
K1 Commercial fructans
K1 Fructan extract
K1 Degree of polymerization
K1 Physicochemical characteristics
K1 Antioxidant activity
K1 FTIR analysis
K1 Prebiotic properties
K1 C. elegans models
K1 Circular economy
AB Commercial fructans (inulin and oligofructose) are generally obtained from crops such as chicory, Jerusalem artichoke or agave. However, there are agricultural by-products, namely asparagus roots, which could be considered potential sources of fructans. In this work, the fructans extracted from asparagus roots and three commercial ones from chicory and agave were studied in order to compare their composition, physicochemical characteristics, and potential health effects. Asparagus fructans had similar chemical composition to the others, especially in moisture, simple sugars and total fructan contents. However, its contents of ash, protein and phenolic compounds were higher. FTIR analysis confirmed these differences in composition. Orafti®GR showed the highest degree of polymerization (DP) of up to 40, with asparagus fructans (up to 25) falling between Orafti®GR and the others (DP 10–11). Although asparagus fructan powder had a lower fructan content and lower DP than Orafti®GR, its viscosity was higher, probably due to the presence of proteins. The existence of phenolic compounds lent antioxidant activity to asparagus fructans. The prebiotic activity in vitro of the four samples was similar and, in preliminary assays, asparagus fructan extract presented health effects related to infertility and diabetes diseases. All these characteristics confer a great potential for asparagus fructans to be included in the prebiotics market.
PB MDPI
YR 2022
FD 2022-12-23
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23791
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/23791
LA en
NO Foods 2023, 12(1), 81; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12010081
NO This research was funded by grant AGL2017-82428-R and PID2020-120463RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”; by grant PDC2021-121674-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 by “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”, and by European Union “NextGenerationEU” by the grant “Margarita Salas” for the Requalification of the Spanish university system 2021-2023 convened by the University Pablo de Olavide (Sevilla, Spain).
NO Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Departamento de Biología Molecular e Ingeniería Bioquímica
NO Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
DS RIO
RD May 6, 2026