REVISTA DE CHIMIE, ISSN: 0034-7752, Volume: 66, Issue: 4, Pages: 472-476, Published: APR 2015

Abstract: The inulins are a group of oligosaccharides that contain fructose. They belong to the class of carbohydrates known as fructans. The aim of this paper is to determine the quantity of proteins, lipids, and glucides by known standard methods, from roots of Phalaris arundinacea. The inulin was determined by a fast and simple way, based on the fact that in the presence of concentrated sulphuric acid, vanillin and inulin form a red complex which has a characteristic in the absorption spectrum at 520 nm. The qualitative evidentiation of inulin was done in agreement with the USP 23 criteria: the solubility test, specific rotation, percentage of iron, reducing sugars, microbial load and from the physico-chemical point of view, melting point, Molish test, with lugol and resorcinol. Inulin was characterized with the help of UV-Vis absorption spectrophotometric methods. The use of undigestable polyglucides (inulins) may improve taste, texture and humidity of many foods.