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Journal of Pediatric Care
ISSN: 2471-805X
March 26-27, 2018
Edinburgh, Scotland
Pediatrics Conference 2018
Page 27
2 nd Edition of International Congress on
Pediatrics
Clinical studies have demonstrated that inulin-type fructans
added to infant food formula have significant effects on
intestinal flora because of their prebiotic potential and influence
the innate and adaptive immune response favorably. Therefore,
people who have consumed inulin have a steady state of well-
being. Our main goal was to extract, isolate and characterize
the inulin-type fructans from Cichorium intybus and Taraxacum
officinale roots in order to evaluate the prebiotic activity of
this polysaccharide. The sources of inulin, Cichorium intybus
(chicory) and Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) roots, was
collected from Romanian south-east spontaneous flora. The
inulin was extracted from plant material by fractionation with
different solvents. The content of saccharides from the organic
extracts was quantified using spectrophotometric methods and
HPTLC technique and commercial inulin, as standard solution.
The presence of other different chemical compounds from
extracts was highlighted using attenuated total reflectance
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The
prebiotic activity of inulin from extracts was performed in the
presence of Lactobacillus plantarum strains and a commercial
product. The highest content of inulin-type fructans was found
in Cichorium intybus roots compared to theTaraxacumofficinale
roots extract. Both plant extracts showed similar functional
groups like the inulin standard solution (C-C: 1018÷1044 cm-1
and C-OH: 1106.06÷1114 cm-1). Thus, the chemical structure of
the compounds found in the plant extracts is almost similar to
that of the standard solution of inulin. Lactobacillus plantarum
strains showed a significant growth dynamics in the presence
of both extracts compared to the sample represented by a
commercial product. In conclusion, Taraxacum officinale roots
are characterized by an essential prebiotic potential due, like
of Cichorium intybus, to their significant inulin content and can
be used as natural additives resources to improve the textural
and organoleptic properties of various food daily products for
children
Biography
Stuparu Cretu Mariana is a Pediatrician and Generalist, also specialist in
general and pediatric ultrasound, family planning and health management.
She has completed her PhD in Pediatrics at 2013 from Carol Davila Uni-
versity of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania. Now, she is the
Medical Director of Obstetrics Ginecologie Hospital BunaVestire of Galati
and Associate Professor at Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Dunarea de
Jos University of Galati. She is concerned about different areas of health,
preferential nutritional health of the population, metabolic syndrome, ado-
lescent health, pediatric gynecology, health education. She has presented
several research papers at different conferences and congresses.
Inulin, a prebiotic plant metabolite for
children – an enriched formula
Mariana Stuparu Cretu
University Dunarea de Jos of Galati, Romania
Mariana Stuparu Cretu, J Pediatr Care, Volume 4
DOI: 10.21767/2471-805X-C1-004