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NEWS AND VIEWS: INDUSTRY
NUTRIOSE®06: a useful soluble
dietary fibre for added
nutritional value
C. Lefranc-Millot
Nutrition Management, ROQUETTE Group, Lestrem, France
Introduction
The World Health Organization and Food and Agricul-
ture Organisation (WHO/FAO 2002) currently recom-
mend that the well-balanced diet required to help
control the global epidemic of obesity and for prevent-
ing diet-related chronic diseases should include: a bal-
anced energy intake (55–70% from total carbohydrates,
15–30% from total fat and 10–15% from total pro-
teins); foods that release their energy slowly, that is, only
about 10% total energy from quickly digested sugars
(mono- and disaccharides); and about 40% from
complex sugars, such as fibres.
The recommended daily intake of fibre is variable in
different countries, but is around 30 g per day per
person in most European countries using fibre quantifi-
cation based on the Association of Official Analytical
Chemists (AOAC) 2001–03 method (Gordon & Okuma
2002). This efficient, widely recognised and reliable
enzymatic-gravimetric high-performance liquid chroma-
tography (HPLC) method was proposed to the AOAC
for the determination of total dietary fibre in foods
containing resistant maltodextrin, and is mainly charac-
terised by the fact that it also takes into account low
molecular weight resistant oligosaccharides using
HPLC, unlike the previous conventional AOAC 985-29
method (Prosky et al. 1985), and the Englyst one
(Englyst et al. 1982), which is still used as a reference in
the UK (see Buttriss & Stokes 2008). A resistant dextrin,
branded under the range’s name NUTRIOSE®(NUTRI-
OSE®06 manufactured by ROQUETTE, Lestrem,
France) was launched in 2004 after many years of
research. It is mostly resistant to digestion in the small
intestine and largely fermented in the colon. According
to one definition (Roberfroid 2005) and to different
notices published by official committees in different
countries (e.g. Italy and France), it is a soluble dietary
fibre. It can therefore be added to make up to 20–25%
(w/w) of a foodstuff and is officially recognised and
labelled as soluble fibre in many countries. As such, it
can be one very useful tool to help achieve the nutri-
tional ‘fibre’ goal of the WHO/FAO. In addition to this,
more and more evidence is emerging about the benefits
that NUTRIOSE®can contribute to health as part of a
balanced diet, such as reduced blood glucose response
and improved gut health. It also offers an outstanding
digestive tolerance threshold, allowing its consumption
in the amounts best suited to achieving the desired ben-
eficial changes in the gut ecosystem. An overview of
these and other nutritional properties, already described
in published papers or in papers in press, will be given in
this paper. Moreover, as a completely soluble fibre, with-
standing extreme conditions of temperature and pro-
cessing, and very well tolerated when consumed, it is an
ideal ingredient for fortifying the fibre content of food
and drink; we will briefly conclude on its technical and
industrial advantages.
What is NUTRIOSE®?
Made from starch, NUTRIOSE®can be described as a
resistant dextrin. A wide range of dextrins exist for
human consumption, for nutrition or pharmaceutical
purposes. NUTRIOSE®can be made from either wheat
starch (NUTRIOSE®FB range) or maize starch
(NUTRIOSE®FM range), using a highly controlled
process of dextrinisation. During this process, the starch
undergoes a degree of hydrolysis followed by repoly-
merisation. It is this repolymerisation that converts the
starch into fibre, by causing non-digestible glycosidic
bonds to be formed, which cannot be cleaved by
enzymes in the digestive tract, and in addition, causes
some hindrance to the cleavage of the digestible bonds
Correspondence: Dr Catherine Lefranc-Millot, Scientific
Communication Manager, Nutrition Management, ROQUETTE
Group, 62080 Lestrem, France.
E-mail: catherine.lefranc@roquette.com
234 © 2008 Roquette Freres copyright Nutrition Bulletin,33, 234–239
(Fig. 1). Dextrinisation is followed by a separation step,
which ensures the optimum molecular weight distribu-
tion to give consistent rheological and technical perfor-
mance and also the right amount of fibre, which is 85%
for NUTRIOSE®06 according to the AOAC method
2001–03 (Gordon & Okuma 2002; Roturier et al.
2003; Roturier & Looten 2006). The product is then
put through further refining steps, including removal of
simple sugars to obtain a content of mono- and disac-
charides below 0.5% on dry substance, and is finally
spray-dried. Therefore, although a glucose polymer,
NUTRIOSE®06 may thus be considered sugar-free.
About 25% of its osidic linkages are not hydrolysed by
human digestive enzymes (Table 1). It is totally soluble
in cold water without inducing viscosity, thanks to its
fibre content, its analytical characteristics and further
physiological properties that we will describe hereafter.
Foods containing this product are consequently able to
claim ‘source of fibre’ or ‘rich in fibre’ if content criteria
defined by the European Commission regulation are
respected (European Commission 2007). For the record,
a claim that a food is a source of fibre, and any claim
likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may
only be made where the product contains at least 3 g of
fibre per 100 g or at least 1.5 g of fibre per 100 kcal. A
claim that a food is high in fibre, and any claim likely to
have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be
made where the product contains at least 6 g of fibre per
100 g or at least 3 g of fibre per 100 kcal.
How is NUTRIOSE®06 digested?
By application of equations published by Roberfroid
(1999), the caloric value of NUTRIOSE®06 is 7.1 kJ
per g (1.7 kcal per g) based on the marketable form
and this value is consistent with clinical determination
in healthy young men (Vermorel et al. 2004) and in
agreement with the consensual caloric value of soluble
dietary fibres (Livesey 1992). This value can be used
for energy content determination for foods in Europe
(Coussement 2001). Unlike standard starch and like a
resistant one, NUTRIOSE®06 is actually partially
hydrolysed in the upper part of the digestive tract (Ver-
morel et al. 2004): only 15% is enzymatically digested
in the small intestine, while the rest passes to the
colon, where 75% of the initial amount is slowly and
progressively fermented in the large intestine and 10%
is excreted (Van den Heuvel et al. 2004).
Glycaemic and insulinaemic responses of
NUTRIOSE®06
In addition to simply increasing the fibre content of
foods, NUTRIOSE®06 may also have a potential role
in weight management, because of its ability to provide
Figure 1 Structural formula of NUTRIOSE®06.
Ta b l e 1 Indicative values of glycosidic bonds distributions (in %)
respectively in (1) NUTRIOSE®06; (2) standard maltodextrin
(GLUCIDEX®, ROQUETTE, Lestrem, France); and (3) starch
Type of osidic linkages (1) (2) (3)
(1,4) 41 95 95
(1,6) 32 5 5
(1,2) 13 0 0
(1,3) 14 0 0
Benefits of NUTRIOSE®06 in nutrition 235
© 2008 Roquette Freres copyright Nutrition Bulletin,33, 234–239
long-lasting energy. A key index that has become
accepted as an indicator of the ability of carbohydrate
to prevent diseases of lifestyle and to help to reduce the
incidence of obesity is the glycaemic index (GI). This
measures the glycaemic response (an indication of the
rate at which the blood glucose level rises and how it is
sustained over time) after the ingestion of carbohydrate
foods. The GI is defined as the incremental area under
the blood glucose response curve of a 50 g carbohy-
drate portion of a test food, expressed as a percent of
the glucose response to the same amount of carbohy-
drate from a standard food taken by the same subject
(FAO 1998). The insulinaemic index (II), generally cor-
related to the GI, is similarly defined as the incremental
area under the blood insulin response curve of a 50 g
carbohydrate portion of a test food expressed as a per
cent of the insulin response to the same amount of
carbohydrate from a standard food taken by the same
subject. The GI and II seem relevant for some nutri-
tional considerations dealing with sustained physical
effort and also for appetite regulation, with lower GI
foods being the better choice in both cases. An impor-
tant consideration is that GI values can also be deter-
mined for mixed meals and whole diets. When
NUTRIOSE®06 is ingested it induces low glycaemic
(glucose response =25) and insulinaemic responses
(insulin response =13) (Donazzolo et al. 2003). It can
therefore be used as a slow energy release carbohydrate
to partially or totally replace other carbohydrates, such
as sugars and starches. For example, when used in a
concentrated fruit drink (Fig. 2) and consumed
after dilution with water, syrups made with NUTRI-
OSE®06 elicit a glucose response of only 10% of the
equivalent product made with sugar (Lefranc-Millot
et al. 2006a).
Possible role in weight management
The benefits of including more fibre in the diet are well
acknowledged. In addition to simply increasing the fibre
content of foods, NUTRIOSE®06 may also help to
delay the return of the sensation of hunger (Van den
Heuvel et al. 2004), which is consistent with previous
observations and reviews on topics such as the influ-
ences on satiation and post-ingestive satiety of foods
with a low GI (Bellisle 2008) and high-fibre content
(Slavin & Green 2007). Therefore, and as will be
attested by shortly published results of a recent clinical
study, NUTRIOSE®06 has a potential role in weight
management. Indeed, dietary intervention using
NUTRIOSE®06 supplementation as a soluble fibre sig-
nificantly modified some biological markers and
reduced some of the risk factors usually associated with
the metabolic syndrome in 120 overweight men (unpub-
lished observations). Moreover, the effects on vigilance
and cognitive performances after NUTRIOSE®06
administration suggest that the glycaemic response is
not the only factor to be considered for predicting
the efficiency of a food ingredient on the two initially
mentioned parameters (Rozan et al. 2008). This point,
together with the previously mentioned results on
weight management, lead us to put forward the idea
that the colonic effects of NUTRIOSE®06, and mainly
the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as
contributors to the daily energy supply, are also key
factors in providing a long-lasting energy supply. This
point remains to be clearly demonstrated by clinical
studies that will be complicated to design with unques-
tionable markers in humans. Indeed, products should
be, for example, tested in ileostomised patients, which is
not always easy to implement or ethically acceptable.
Figure 2 Mean change in human blood glucose concentrations after the ingestion of either NUTRIOSE®06-based syrup (based on concentrated fruit syrup
including 18.3 g per 100 g NUTRIOSE®06), commercial syrup reference (both products being similarly diluted, as prescribed by the manufacturer) or 50g
anhydrous glucose ingestion. Compared with glucose, the mean glycaemic response (GR) value for the commercial syrup (51 ⫾6) is significantly higher
(P=0.001) than the mean GR value for the NUTRIOSE®06-based syrup (6 ⫾3).
236 C. Lefranc-Millot
© 2008 Roquette Freres copyright Nutrition Bulletin,33, 234–239
Moreover, the results obtained are not necessarily rep-
resentative of those that would be obtained in healthy
volunteers.
Prebiotic effects
Numerous definitions of prebiotics with more or less
subtle variations have been given in the past decades.
Common well-known prebiotics in use include, in
particular, various types of oligosaccharides (e.g. inulin,
fructo-oligosaccharides and galacto-oligosaccharides)
(Alexiou & Franck 2008), having a long history of safe
use, although there is some concern about excess pro-
duction of digestive gas in the gut when consumed in
large amounts. However, new types of compounds
claiming prebiotic properties are also emerging, induc-
ing a need for a broader definition of prebiotic effects
and reflecting more recent understanding of the micro-
bial ecology of the human microbiota. Taking all these
considerations into account, the FAO has very recently
revised the definition of a prebiotic as ‘a non-viable food
component that confers a health benefit on the host
associated with modulation of the microbiota’ (FAO
2007).
Focusing on the physiological effects observed after
prebiotic ingestion, NUTRIOSE®has been studied
according to one definition (Woods & Gorbach 2001)
characterising a prebiotic by: ‘an increase in “beneficial
bacteria” and/or a decrease in “harmful bacteria,” a
decrease in intestinal pH, production of SCFAs and
changes in bacterial enzymes concentrations’. NUTRI-
OSE®06 has been shown to display all these prebiotic
effects through colonic fermentations. The different
results are derived from many studies, carried out in
vitro, in animals (rats) and in humans (Van den Heuvel
et al. 2005; Lefranc-Millot et al. 2006b; Pasman et al.
2006). These fermentations benefit the colonocytes in
the digestive epithelium, encourage an increase in the
population of beneficial glucidolytic flora (Fig. 3),
decrease colonic pH (Fig. 4) and subsequently decrease
potentially pathogenic flora (e.g. the number of
Clostridium perfringens decreases significantly in
human faeces after a 14-day administration of 15 g per
day NUTRIOSE®06, P<0.05). The production of
SCFAs from the fermentation of carbohydrates in the
colon also contributes a significant quantity to the
body’s daily energy supply, as the SCFAs are used as
metabolic fuel. Because this fermentation is not sudden
but is progressive through the colon, the sustained pro-
duction of SCFAs, in addition to the initial release of
glucose from the partial digestion in the small intestine,
makes NUTRIOSE®06 a long-lasting source of energy.
This slow and progressive fermentation is in contrast
to some other soluble fibres where rapid fermentation
may cause digestive discomfort such as bloating, flatu-
lence and diarrhoea. When consumed in the quantity
specified to give the claimed nutritional benefit, NUTRI-
OSE®06 is outstandingly well tolerated, with a thresh-
Figure 3 One example of saccharolytic flora (Bacteroides) increased in
human faeces after a 14-day oral administration of 10 g per day
NUTRIOSE®06. *P<0.05.
Figure 4 pH of human faeces before and after a 14-day administration of
20 g per day NUTRIOSE®06. *P<0.05.
Benefits of NUTRIOSE®06 in nutrition 237
© 2008 Roquette Freres copyright Nutrition Bulletin,33, 234–239
old of 45 g per day producing no symptoms of digestive
discomfort at all and no occurrence of diarrhoeal events
at a dosage of 100 g per day (Van den Heuvel et al.
2004; Vermorel et al. 2004; Lefranc-Millot et al. 2006b;
Pasman et al. 2006).
Future research
Apart from the clinical results obtained in overweight
people, a cholesterol-lowering effect of NUTRIOSE®06
has been demonstrated in moderately hypercholester-
olemic hamsters (Juhel et al. 2007). This effect is likely
to be related to reduced cholesterol and bile salt absorp-
tion and is promising for the prevention of moderate
hypercholesterolaemia. Moreover, NUTRIOSE®06
appears to exhibit a promising effect on intestinal well-
being and immunity maintenance, as beneficial effects
have been demonstrated on intestinal biomarkers
involved in the regulation of pain and the regulation of
inflammation in mice. These preliminary results suggest
that it may influence the regulation of local immunity
and perhaps be a promising and safe treatment for
patients with irritable bowel syndrome (Lefranc-Millot
et al. 2007).
Some technical considerations
This ingredient is easy to process and consume because
it is usable, without undesired digestive effects, at effi-
cacious doses. Moreover, it has a clean neutral taste,
with no sweetness. It dissolves rapidly and has only a
very limited impact on viscosity, although it can provide
improved mouth feel in, for example, diet drinks. It can
be added to foods without being noticeably present, a
clear advantage in many foods where additional viscos-
ity, gumminess or gritty texture would be undesirable. It
is stable at conditions of high temperature, variable pH
and processes involving high shear. Because of this sta-
bility, the quantity of fibre added as NUTRIOSE®06 to
a formulation will remain the same over the course of its
shelf life.
Conclusion
With its low glycaemic response, long-lasting energy
release, gut ‘wellbeing’ benefits and high tolerance,
NUTRIOSE®offers a wide range of health benefits in
addition to simply fortifying the fibre content of food
and drink. It withstands heat and acid, is soluble in
liquids and produces only limited viscosity. As the food
industry struggles to cope with the implications of a
global obesity epidemic, NUTRIOSE®offers a range of
preventative solutions including a way to reduce energy
density, while being very easy to use. More detailed
information on some of the properties briefly described
previously will soon be detailed in new scientific papers
currently in press.
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