Source: U.S. Chicory, Inc. submitted to
EXTRACTION OF INULIN FROM DRIED CHICORY ROOT
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0196306
Grant No.
2003-33610-13014
Project No.
NEBK-2003-00343
Proposal No.
2003-00343
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
8.5
Project Start Date
May 15, 2003
Project End Date
Nov 14, 2003
Grant Year
2003
Project Director
Kerr, E.
Recipient Organization
U.S. Chicory, Inc.
(N/A)
Scottsbluff,NE 69361
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Chicory is an excellent source of inulin, a fructose polymer with important nutrition and health characteristics. Currently, chicory is grown primarily in Europe. In 2001, U.S. Chicory constructed a drying facility in Scottsbluff, NE and processed 950 acres of chicory, the first commercial operation in North America. Although dried chicory is suitable for pet foods, purified inulin is necessary for human food. Current inulin extraction methods are expensive ($200 million facility) and require the entire crop be processed in 45-60 days. Preliminary UNL work suggests that inulin can be extracted from dried chicory. With the U.S. Chicory drying facility, extraction of inulin from dried chicory would expand the process to a 12-month operation, reducing capital inputs and positioning U.S. Chicory as a low cost producer of inulin. Definition of extraction parameters in the proposed research will help design an efficient inulin extraction facility. Our Phase II proposal will refine purification and preservation strategies and develop a pilot-scale inulin processing facility. Extracting inulin from dried chicory will extend the processing season and reduce the capital investment to construct and operate the factory. Because the drying factory is in operation and the market for dried chicory is strong, U.S. Chicory has some time to develop an inulin processing facility. The production of inulin will diversify U.S. Chicory's product line and provide a variety of marketing options.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
50222992000100%
Knowledge Area
502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
2299 - Miscellaneous and new crops, general/other;

Field Of Science
2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
The proposed work will establish the processing parameters necessary to efficiently extract high quality inulin from dried chicory.
Project Methods
First, we will optimize drying conditions (temperature, duration, final moisture) to preserve inulin content and chain length. Then, we will optimize extraction conditions (particle size, temperature, time, agitation, aqueous:solids, pH) to efficiently extract inulin from dried chicory. The final output will be an engineering block diagram detailing optimal extraction conditions discerned by the proposed studies.