NALYSIS OF FERMENTED LACTIC ACID DAIRY PRODUCTS ENRICHED WITH INULIN-TYPE FRUCTANS

The production of functional lactic acid dairy products constantly increases nowadays. They are usually used to enrich with soluble dietary fibers that enhance their functional characteristics. The aim of the current research was to investigate the lactic acid dairy products enriched with inulin-type fructans with different degree of polymerization and to analyse the fructooligosacharides and inulin content in them after lactic acid fermentation. For the yoghurt preparation inulin and fructooligosacharides extracted from tubers of Helianthus tuberosus L. and commercially available inulin from chicory were used. The amount of fructans from inulin-type was determined by spectrophotometric, TLC and HPLC-RID methods. The results from the analysis showed that after lactic acid fermentation the content of inulin changed in a very small amount and the obtained product possessed improved healthy and potential prebiotic effect.