Effect of inulin, medium-chain triglycerides and whey protein isolate on stability and in vitro digestibility of enteral nutrition formulas

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the impact on digestibility and physical properties of enteral formulas by the addition of variable ingredients. Eight formulas were designed by a simplex-centroid evaluating different concentrations of inulin, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) and whey protein isolate (WPI). Overall, the eight formulas developed presented mean values of 17.3% of protein, 62.3% of carbohydrates, 11.5% of lipids, a caloric value of 420 kcal/100 g, thus obtaining nutritionally adequate formulas. The emulsion stability of the suspended formulas was affected by all ingredients and the interactions between MCT – inulin, and MCT – WPI were effective in improving this parameter. Besides that, the use of inulin mostly affected the protein digestibility, according to the degree of hydrolysis and the peptide profile. The desirability function (d-value = 0.769) proposed a formulation containing 0.70% of inulin, 1.56% of MCT, and 1.73% of WPI. This proposed solution may improve enteral formulas because this has optimal emulsion stability and protein digestibility, which are essential characteristics for a product to be used by patients under special clinical conditions.