Inulin and that "gut" feeling: inulin, a prebiotic typically found in dairy yogurts to enhance calcium absorption, also can provide moisture in meat substitutes and trade spaces with carbohydrates to supplement dietary fiber

Prepared Foods, July, 2004 by Marcia A. Wade

Some suppliers have oligofructose-based products that often are used as masking agents. According to Veghte, they cover up the taste of soy, whey protein, vitamins and minerals. "These products extend beyond the standard oligofructose product because they improve the flavor or sweetness profile of high-intensity sweeteners in order to give them a cleaner and better taste," he adds.

Additionally, some consider them easier to use because they combine everything into one product. They act to mask sweeteners while also adding fiber. "It really depends on exactly what a manufacturer is looking for, but those products are one step easier. You don't have to add fiber, sweetener and flavor to cover up the sweetener aftertaste and then balance everything back out again. The supplier has already taken care of all that," says Veghte.

Products like Entenmann's (Seattle) Carb Counting Chocolate Chip Cookies, launched March 2004, contain inulin blended with isomalt and acesulfame potassium, a combination that is said to enhance product flavor.

Humectant Properties

"Inulin binds with water in any application where there is moisture," says Veghte. Certain inulin suppliers have been given product- and production-specific GRAS approval by the USDA and the FDA to sell their inulin for use in meat products and analogs. Inulin adds lubricity and mouthfeel to meat analogs such as soy protein, tofu and vegetable protein.

"It allows you to have effective binding, elasticity and provide plastic character in meat products, which allows you to enhance meat and spice flavor, provide dietary fiber and reduce fat in meat applications," says Tungland. Inulin has a lot of hydrogen bonds on the fructose polymer, which attracts water and facilitates the transfer of water to maintain the hydration of the protein.

"It doesn't release water when it is cooked. It gives you the moisture perception of meat when it is cooked, allowing the vegetable protein to have the lubricity, mouthfeel and hydration of animal meat," explains Tungland.

In production of restructured poultry, consideration should be given to the efficiency of producing a homogeneous mixture, says Tungland. When inulin goes into a meat application, one is essentially injecting and rolling an inulin particle gel into the meat. "Injection processes typically take more consideration than tumbling processes to incorporate inulin. Injections cause layering. Tumbling is a more efficient process. The little pockets of white paste, noticeable in layering, do not exist when you tumble, which allows for more mixology and less potential for layering," informs Tungland.

"Inulin provides hydration efficiency to hydrocolloids like xanthan gum to synthesize a fat like mouthfeel and texture when used together. Inulin is a hydration facilitator making hydrocolloids and proteins work together more efficiently to make meat products lower in fat," says Tungland. However, they still are representative of the full-fat flavor profile.

Water binding also assists with shelflife extension in bakery as well as with bars and meat products. "Inulin is unique in how it attracts water preferentially to other components like starch."