Functional Food Ingredients and Nutraceuticals Processing Technologies

A growing awareness of the contributions that functional foods, bioactive compounds, and nutraceuticals make to health is creating a tremendous market for these products. In order for manufacturers to match this demand with stable, high volume production while maintaining defined and reliable composition, they must have ready access to the very latest information emerging in the literature. Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: Processing Technologies consolidates the wealth of information currently available into a single reference to help food engineers better understand and utilize the latest developments and technologies. Providing a sequential study of the key factors in the preparation of functional foods, the book covers the selection of sources, extraction, purification, decontamination, packaging, and preservation of a variety of products. Individual properties of compounds are examined with regard to their influence on, and suitability of, the method chosen for processing and production. The chapters emphasize applications of processing and technologies, including high pressure, microencapsulation, and molecular distillation; stability of bioactive components and antioxidative properties during processing and shelf life; improvement of bioavailability; and mechanisms of antioxidant action with clinical and epidemiological evidences of functionality. Experts from various fields representing five continents bring together the science, technology, and processing expertise needed to accelerate the integration of the latest approaches and innovations into the production processes of tomorrow.