The production of functional food ingredients has been promoted in recent years in response to the consumer attention on personal health and well-being demand. Isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMOs) are derived from starch and are a mixture of oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization (DP) ranging 2–10. IMOs exhibit low glycemic index and are classified as prebiotics. Increasing consumer demand for low glycemic foods has recently advanced both academic research industrial developments in the IMOs area. An increasing number of scientific studies highlight enzymatic modification of starch, digestibility and prebiotics fermentability. Additionally, recent studies point at IMOs versatile functionality as food ingredient, pharmaceutical- and cosmetic precursor, all of which are effects of their small molecular size resulting in high solubility and low viscosity. As a result, the numbers of IMOs-related patent classifications for food, foodstuff, ingredient, medical and veterinary purposes, as listed by the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) and International Patent Classification (IPC), have steadily increased over the past 26 years. Interestingly, IMOs have been commercially available for decades in Japan but only recently, IMOs products were launched for the US, European and Canadian markets. The IMOs selling rate is now strongly growing with significant revenues taking off in 2017. In this review, we will give a brief overview and identify some main challenges for IMOs product development from both academic and commercial points of view focusing on their wide variation in chemical and physical properties, functionality in foods, production technology, digestibility, prebiotics fermentability and health-associated functions. Finally, we will project from the current IMOs market situation and discuss potentials for an emerging multi-niche IMOs market as directed by consumer trends and intellectual property right (IPR) situations. This short review is widely intended for scientists, traders and the general public who have interest in prospects of IMOs.

为了响应消费者对个人健康和福祉需求的关注，近年来已经促进了功能性食品成分的生产。异麦芽低聚糖（IMOs）来自淀粉，是聚合度（DP）为2-10的低聚糖混合物。IMO显示出低血糖指数，被归类为益生元。消费者对低血糖食品的需求不断增长，最近推动了IMOs地区的学术研究工业发展。越来越多的科学研究突出了淀粉的酶促修饰，消化率和益生元的发酵能力。此外，最近的研究指向IMO作为食品成分，药品和化妆品前体的通用功能，所有这些都是它们的小分子尺寸的结果，从而导致高溶解度和低粘度。结果，在过去的26年中，由合作专利分类（CPC）和国际专利分类（IPC）列出的与食品，食品，配料，医疗和兽医用途有关的IMO与专利有关的分类数目一直在稳步增长。有趣的是，IMOs在日本已经有几十年的商业可用，但是直到最近，IMOs产品才在美国，欧洲和加拿大市场推出。IMO的销售率目前正在快速增长，2017年收入大增。在本次审查中，我们将从学术和商业角度简要概述并确定IMO产品开发的主要挑战，重点是其化学和物理特性，食品功能，生产技术，消化率，益生元发酵性和健康相关功能的广泛差异。最后，我们将根据国际海事组织的当前市场状况进行预测，并讨论根据消费者趋势和知识产权（IPR）情况指导的新兴多细分海事组织市场的潜力。这份简短的评论广泛适用于对IMO前景感兴趣的科学家，贸易商和一般公众。我们将根据国际海事组织的当前市场情况进行预测，并根据消费者趋势和知识产权（IPR）的情况，探讨新兴的多细分海事组织市场的潜力。这份简短的评论广泛适用于对IMO前景感兴趣的科学家，贸易商和一般公众。我们将根据国际海事组织的当前市场情况进行预测，并根据消费者趋势和知识产权（IPR）的情况，探讨新兴的多细分海事组织市场的潜力。这份简短的评论广泛适用于对IMO前景感兴趣的科学家，贸易商和一般公众。