Isomaltooligosaccharide

Isomaltooligosaccharide (IMO) is a mixture of short-chain carbohydrates which has a digestion-resistant property. IMO is found naturally in some foods, as well as being manufactured commercially. The raw material used for manufacturing IMO is starch, which is enzymatically converted into a mixture of isomaltooligosaccharides.

The term “oligosaccharide” encompasses carbohydrates that are larger than simple di- or tri-saccharides, but smaller than polysaccharides (greater than 10 units). Isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO) are glucose oligomers with α-D-(1,6)-linkages, including isomaltose, panose, isomaltotriose, isomaltotetraose, isomaltopentaose, nigerose, kojibiose, and higher branched oligosaccharides. While human intestinal enzymes readily digest α(1,4)-glycosidic bonds, α(1,6)-linkages are not easily hydrolyzed and exhibit a digestion-resistant property. Therefore, IMO are only partially digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Isomalto-oligosaccharides are a normal part of the human diet and occur naturally in fermented foods, such as rice miso, soy sauce, and sake. Isomaltose, one of the α(1,6)-linked disaccharide components of IMO, has been identified as a natural constituent of honey. IMO is a sweet-tasting, high-density syrup which could be spray-dried into powder form.

For manufacturing IMO on a commercial scale, food industries use starch processed from cereal crops like wheat, barley, pulses (peas, beans, lentils), oats, tapioca, rice, potato and others. This variety in sources could benefit consumers who have allergies or hypersensitivity to certain cereal crops. The manufacturing process controls the degree of polymerization (dp) and the α(1,6)-linkages to ensure a consistent quality of IMO from different starch sources. The starch is first converted, by means of simple enzymatic hydrolysis, into high maltose syrup with di-, tri and oligosaccharides (2, 3 or more glucose units) having α(1,4)-glycosidic linkages which are readily digestible in the human intestine. These α(1,4)-glycosidic linkages are further converted into digestion-resistant α(1,6)-glycosidic linkages, creating “iso” linkages between glucose moieties and forming Isomalto-oligosaccharide (IMO).

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Wikipedia