Tequila Plant -- More Than Margaritas

The plant that gave the world tequila contains a substance that seems ideal for use in "functional foods" -- with health benefits over and above a source of nutrition.
Foods spiked with "fructans" from the agave plant may help protect against osteoporosis by boosting the body's absorption of calcium and could have other health benefits. It should be noted, researchers say, that fructans do not occur in tequila, because they change into alcohol when agave is used to make tequila.
"Fructans are considered functional food ingredients because they affect body processes in ways that result in better health and reduction in the risk of many diseases," study author Mercedes López, PhD., of the National Polytechnic Institute in Guanajuato, Mexico, was quoted as saying. "Experimental studies suggest that fructans may be beneficial in diabetes, obesity, stimulating the immune system of the body, decreasing levels of disease-causing bacteria in the intestine, relieving constipation and reducing the risk of colon cancer."
Fructans are non-digestible carbohydrates. They consist of molecules of fructose -- the sugar found in honey, grapes, and ripe fruits -- linked together into chains. Rich natural sources include artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, onions and chicory.
So-called "inulin-type" fructans from chicory find wide use in the United States and other countries in ice cream, breakfast cereals, baked goods, sauces, beverages and other foods. Small fructans have a sweet taste, while those formed from longer chains of fructose have a neutral taste and give foods a smooth, pleasant texture. Scientific studies have suggested that fructans stimulate the growth of healthy bacteria in the large intestine in a way that increases the body's absorption of minerals, including the calcium and magnesium important for bone strength.
In this study, López and colleagues set out to determine what effects agave fructans actually have on bone growth by testing the effects of agave fructans on laboratory mice. Mice fed agave fructans absorbed more calcium from food, excreted less calcium in their faeces, and showed a 50 percent increase in levels of a protein associated with the buildup of new bone tissue.
"These results suggest that the supplementation of the standard diet with agave fructans prevented bone loss and improved bone formation, indicating the important role of agave fructans on the maintenance of healthy bone," López said. "They can be used in many products for children and infants to help prevent various diseases, and can even be used in ice cream as a sugar substitute."

SOURCE: Presented at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), March 22, 2010