University of Food Technologies, Department of Organic Chemistry and Microbiology, 26 Maritza Blvd., Plovdiv, Bulgaria address: Abstract Тhe continuous ethanol and water extractions of medicinal plants Cichorium intybus, Inula helenium, Taraxacum officinalis and Helianthus tuberosus accumulating inulin-type fructans in their underground parts – roots and tubers were carried out. The extraction efficiency of inulin and oligofructoses was followed by TLC. The amount of extracted fructans was determinated by the spectrophotometric method based on the Seliwanoff reaction with resorcinol as the absorbance of resulting compound was measured at 480 nm. It was obtained that the average fructan content was as follows: Cichorium intybus е 33 %, в Inula helenium %, Helianthus tuberosus – 69 % и Taraxacum officinalis – 34 %, which make them rich sources of soluble dietary fiber, when they were used in dietary food products. Introduction Inulin is a polydisperse linear polysaccharide, member of fructan family and serves as a reserve carbohydrate in underground part of plants from the Compositae (Astraceae) family such as Cichorium intybus (chicory), Inula helenium (elecampane), Taraxacum officinalis (dandelion) and Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichoke). Inulin consists mainly of β-(21) fructosyl fructose units (Fm), and usually but not always the chain terminate with α-glucopyranose unit (12) (GFn) at the reducing end (Figure 1). A small percentage of inulin molecules have a terminal fructoside unit found primarily in the pyranose form in aqueous solution. The degree of polymerization (DP) of inulin varies from 2 to 70 and depends on plant species, harvesting time and post-harvest conditions. Molecules with DP