a n a l y t i c a c h i m i c a a c t a 6 0 4 ( 2 0 0 7 ) 81-87 a v a i l a b l e a t w w w . s c i e n c e d i r e c t . c o m j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / a c a In this study, inulooligosaccharides (F n -type inulin) resulting from the endo-inulinase hydrolysis of globe artichoke inulin were purified and characterized. The aim was to produce F n oligomer standards with the intention of identifying them in the complex inulin chromatogram. Inulin was extracted from globe artichoke and presented a high average degree of polymerization (DP) of about 80 as determined by high-performance anion exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC-PAD). This inulin was hydrolyzed by a commercial endo-inulinase yielding a product with a very high F n /GF n molecule ratio, thus limiting the interference of GF n during the purification process. Highperformance size exclusion chromatography was used to individually isolate and collect each retention peak corresponding to a specific oligomer. The purity of these fractions was checked by HPAEC-PAD and showed that relatively pure molecules were produced.Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry allowed the molecular weight determination of these purified oligomers and ascertained their DP as F 2 , F 3 and F 4 . These F 2-4 standards were used with glucose, fructose, sucrose and GF 2-4 (commercially available) to spike commercial oligofructose products in order to determine the elution profile in the HPAEC-PAD chromatogram.