Abstract: A process for the liquifaction of beets or chicory roots which includes washing and grinding the beets or chicory roots to provide a ground product; mixing the ground product with a mixture of enzymes that include SPS-ase, cellulase and cellobiase, as well as an acid so as to provide a pH of about 3 to 5.5; leaving the mixture for about 1 to 6 hours to accomplish a prehydrolysis of the ground product; grinding the prehydrolyzed ground product; allowing the prehydrolyzed ground product to hydrolyze for about 20 to 120 hours; and recovering the liquid hydrolyzed product.

Abstract: The invention relates to the field of biotechnology.It relates to a process for preparing a syrup, the dry extract of which includes a high content of isomaltose, which comprises treating an aqueous solution of sucrose with a mixture of the enzymes dextransucrase and dextranase at a temperature of 0.degree. to 50.degree. C. and at a pH in the range from 4.5 to 7, so as to obtain an aqueous syrup containing fructose, isomaltose, glucose and, possibly, isomaltotriose as the main constituents.The syrup obtained is a useful intermediate for the synthesis, in particular, of isomaltitol.