Fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) have been used for many years as sweeteners and are today becoming increasingly popular for their potential as prebiotics. These fructose oligomers have a degree of polymerization (DP) ranging from 2 to 4 (DP2-4). FOS can be produced by enzymatic hydrolysis and isomerization of sucrose.
After the enzymatic treatment, it is necessary to remove impurities, including the enzymes and stabilizing products. Our Applexion™ ion exchange technology can be used to demineralize the feed and remove these impurities.
This process enables production of FOS-55, meaning 55% of FOS on dry substance while the 45% remaining are composed by other oligomers (DP1 and DP>4). Due to its limited purity, the FOS-55 cannot be directly processed into powder, which is more valuable and easier to stock.
Our Applexion™ SSMB (Sequential Simulated Moving Bed) chromatography technology can be used directly after the production of FOS-55 to further purify the FOS and recover only the most valuable fractions (DP2-4). The SSMB technology enables efficient production of FOS-95, which can be atomized and transformed into powder.
Novasep can also provide you with:
- Services from process development to plant start-up to design your new production unit
- Sample production services thanks to our pilot units to produce your first kilos of FOS
FOS can also be extracted as a secondary product from the inulin manufacturing processes.
