What is the calorie content of Inulation?
Inulin only makes a modest indirect caloric contribution through the caloric value of its fermentation products in the colon. However, when metabolized in this manner, the efficiency is much lower than when carbohydrates are digested by enzymes, absorbed from the small intestine and directly metabolized by the liver. Inulation has been shown to have a caloric value of about 1.6kcal/g. Moreover, research suggests, like some other physiological dietary fibers, inulin may also affect the small intestinal transit of other nutrients into the colon, thus reducing their caloric value. Because Inulation has by nature an average degree of polymerization of 9 and a molecular weight of about 1600, functioning physiologically as other naturally-occurring shorter-chain FOS. However, it also contains longer chain fractions providing for superior intestinal tolerance and performance for several food rheological applications, such as for fat replacement, to further reduce dietary calories.
