Fructans were extracted from Agave salmiana juice, characterized and subjected 
to hydrolysis process using a commercial inulinase preparation acting freely. To 
compare the performance of the enzymatic preparation, a batch of experiments 
were also conducted with chicory inulin (reference). Hydrolysis was performed 
for 6 h at two temperatures (50, 60 °C) and two substrate concentrations (40, 60 
mg/ml). Hydrolysis process was monitored by measuring the sugars released and 
residual substrate by HPLC. A mathematical model which describes the kinetics of 
substrate degradation as well as fructose production was proposed to analyze the 
hydrolysis assessment. It was found that kinetics were significantly influenced 
by temperature, substrate concentration, and type of substrate (P < 0.01). The 
extent of substrate hydrolysis varied from 82 to 99%. Hydrolysis product was 
mainly constituted of fructose, obtaining from 77 to 96.4% of total reducing 
sugars.