Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers
The intention of this page is to give readers of the fructan page the oppertunity to ask questions, which might be answered by other readers. Questions can be asked by filling out the question form, or if your browser doesn't handle forms by sending me an E-mail. Answers can be given by filling out the answer form, or by E-mail.

Question Form ...... Answer Form

If you send me questions please put this on the subject field. Also tell me if I can use your name (not your E-mail)underneath the question, otherwise it will be anonymous.

If you send me Answers to questions please put this on the subject field. Also put the number of the question in the E-mail. Also tell me if I can use your name.

Q9 Are there any new methods for quantification of Fructan content in foods or food ingredients and would this result factor into soluble, insoluble sugar or what charbohydrate fraction?
J. Schuh 05/06/97

Q8 What are the most abundant sources of fructans (namely inulin @ 1-kestose) available in tropical vegetation?
Ce-Belle 05/06/97

Q7 Are there any suppliers which sells purified fructans of the phlein bacterial levan type?
R.Schaetzle 20/05/97

Q6 Which foods contain a high amount of fructan, either naturally or through processing?
Biswas Amitava 11/03/1997

Q5 Which companies produce fructans for consumption?
Biswas Amitava 11/03/1997

A5 As far as I know there are 3 companies in western Europe: two in Belgium, 1 in the Netherlands. Further information can be obtained from:
C.E.F.I (Comite Europeen des Frabicants d'Inuline)
Avenue de Tervueren 182
B-1150 Brussels
Belgium
Prof. A. Van Laere 01/10/1997

Q4 Is there any evidence for positive health benifits from fructan consumption?
Biswas Amitava 11/03/1997

Q3 Are there any commercial fructan hydrolases available? I mean the hydrolase which is specific to some kind of linkage?
Qiang Qin 05/12/1996

A3 Yes there is. It's called novozyme and can be obtained from the Riense suikerraffinaderij (Belgium)
Dr M.J.M. Ebskamp 06/12/1996

Q2 Does anybody know if linear fructans have a tendency to curl? So what I want to know is if it's known that fructans make spirals or some other curl-like structures.
Anonymous 11/11/1996

A2 I have a preprint from the group of Henri Chanzy in Grenoble (currently on Sabbatical at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. Their result is that inulin crystallizes as a 6-fold helix, as I recall.
Another piece of well established evidence is the crystal structure of cycloinulohexaose, plus the formation of the cyclic hepta- and octamer. This is the beautiful work of Dr. Uchiyama in Japan.
Dr.A.D. French 01/04/1997

Q1 Is there any hard data on the suggestion that fructans may give drought resistance to plants under natural conditions?
Anonymous 07/11/1996