Leaf Chicory Seeds

Chicory inulin
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) is used today as an industrial crop and its fructan is known as chicory inulin. Native chicory inulin is a nonfractionated inulin, extracted from fresh roots, taking precautions to inhibit the plant’s own inulinase activity as well as acid hydrolysis. It always contains glucose, fructose, sucrose, and small oligosaccharides. Because of the beta configuration of the anomeric C2 in its fructose monomers, inulin is resistant to hydrolysis by human small intestinal digestive enzymes, which are specific for ?-glycosidic bonds. It has thus been classified as ?nondigestible? oligosaccharide (NDO).