Low sugar food products with high fiber content

Abstract

The present invention provides processes for producing food products, particularly juice beverages, with reduced sugar content enriched with dietary fibers and the food products produced. The processed food products are low in calories while preserving the palatable test of the starting material, and contain beneficial amount of dietary fibers. The processed food product further contains sorbitol and gluconic acid.

1 . A processed food product having reduced sugar content and elevated content of at least one oligosaccharide and/or polysaccharide selected from the group consisting of fructan and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) compared to a corresponding unprocessed food product and having palatable taste, further comprising at least one of sorbitol and gluconic acid. 
     
     
         2 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the processed food product has lower calorie content compared to a corresponding unprocessed beverage. 
     
     
         3 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , having a reduced content of at least one of fructose, glucose, sucrose, or a combination thereof compared to a corresponding unprocessed food product. 
     
     
         4 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the least one oligosaccharide and/or polysaccharide is converted from the food product sugar. 
     
     
         5 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the processed food product comprises less than 0.5% (v/v) ethanol. 
     
     
         6 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the processed food product is essentially free of CO 2 . 
     
     
         7 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the processed food product is essentially devoid of free enzyme or enzymes. 
     
     
         8 . The processed food product of  claim 1 , wherein the processed food product is a liquid. 
     
     
         9 . The processed food product of  claim 8 , wherein the processed food product is a beverage. 
     
     
         10 . The processed food product of  claim 9 , wherein the beverage is selected from the group consisting of juice and ready-to-drink product. 
     
     
         11 . The processed food product of  claim 10 , wherein the juice is natural juice.