Latest Research Into Inulin to be Highlighted

Nutritional studies on the prebiotic ingredients inulin and oligofructose continue to expand and demonstrate their benefits for intestinal as well as general health and well-being.

12/06/06 Inulin and oligofructose supplier Orafti Active Food Ingredients, have announced the full programme for their 5th Research Conference in Boston, USA on 28th – 29th September, 2006. The Conference will provide the scientific community with a unique opportunity to learn about the latest research into the health benefits of inulin and oligofructose.

The two-day event held at Harvard Medical School, will feature six informative and interactive sessions concerning the nutritional and health benefits of inulin and oligofructose presented by internationally recognised scientists. At the event delegates will not only get the chance to listen to some of the science world’s most respected names talk on their specialist areas but there will also be the opportunity for delegates to engage in discussion and debate.

Each session at the conference will focus on a specific health benefit of inulin and oligofructose giving speakers the opportunity to share some of their most recent research findings.

· The first session of the conference will focus on intestinal health and will be chaired by Dr Allan Walker, the Conrad Taff Professor of Nutrition and Professor of Paediatrics at Harvard Medical School. His principal research interests include the role of protective nutrients, including prebiotics, and the development of intestinal defence mechanisms.

· The second session will be chaired by Prof. Connie Weaver, Head of the Department of Food & Nutrition at Purdue University, Indiana. In 2000, Connie Weaver became Director of a National Institute of Health funded Botanical Centre to study dietary supplements containing polyphenolics for age-related diseases and is therefore perfectly placed to lead this session on bone health.

· The final session of the first day focuses on gut peptides and energy metabolism and will be chaired by Prof. Em. Roberfroid. Holder of a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, he has been actively involved in research relating to functional food science and in particular prebiotics.

· The second day of the conference kicks off with Prof. Glenn Gibson chairing a session on immunity and inflammation. Gibson is Professor at the University of Reading (UK) and Chairman of the Beneo Scientific Committee. Its research unit focuses on gastro-intestinal microbiology and he has co-authored several books on gut microflora.

· The penultimate session on colon cancer risk is to be chaired by Dr Gérard Pascal, former Scientific Director of the Human Nutrition and Food Safety Unit of INRA, in Paris, France, who has specialised in nutrition and food toxicology.

· The conference closes with a session looking at the benefits of inulin and oligofructose for specific target groups. Prof. Nathalie Delzenne who will chair this session has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and has been involved in research assessing the physiological effects of prebiotic-type ingredients.

Anne Franck, Executive Vice President of Science and Technology at ORAFTI comments: ”Nutritional studies on the prebiotic ingredients inulin and oligofructose continue to expand and demonstrate their benefits for intestinal as well as general health and well-being. What we know less is that prebiotics have been part of the human diet for thousands of years. At the Conference evidence for prebiotic use in the archaeological record from different regions in the world will be presented by Jeff Leach from the Paleobiotics Lab. It is exciting to learn that mankind probably had the opportunity to include prebiotic-containing plants in its diet as early as 2 million years ago and that significant dietary intake took place later on with the advent of technological advances already 400,000 years ago. It is therefore hypothesised that populations that included plants rich in prebiotic components in their diet would have had a selective competitive advantage over competitors! Leach’s fascinating finding put prebiotic use and benefits in a new perspective”.