Raffinose Family Oligosaccharides, Occurrence in Food Materials, Nutritional Implication and Methods of Analysis, a Review

Raffinose family oligosaccharides are important components in various plant products which 8have numbers of contributions to plant physiology and are non-digestible in monogastric 9animals and in human upper gut. Thus, they are passed into the lower gut without being digested where they are fermented and liberate a substantial amount of gas (CO2, H2 and CH4) which result in flatulence and hence can be considered as anti-nutritional factors as they cause abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, flatulence and others. RFOs are widely distributed in various crops. Leguminous plants for example are one of the most important plant food materials, for they are the concentrated and low cost sources of protein for the vegan population and low income societies. However, they are under-utilized in various countries specially developed countries because of the anti-nutritional factors including flatulence factor, raffinose family oligosaccharides. Apart from these anti-nutritional properties, RFOs is also among the important food components when consumed moderately. It is among the health promoting components of foods as it facilitates the growth of important microflora in the gut, enhance the activities of antioxidant enzyme system, hepatoprotective and other multiple health benefits. Therefore, it is very important to reduce RFOs to certain optimal amount only to reduce their adverse anti-nutritional effect and utilize their advantages.