Publisher's Synopsis
Functional foods have been considered as foods made up of nutrients that confer physiological or medical benefit to the consumers. In fact, any healthy food confirmed to have a health promoting or disease preventing property beyond the basic functions of supplying nutrition is now regarded as a functional food. Functional foods and nutraceuticals provide an opportunity to improve the human health, reduce health care costs and support economic development in rural communities. These foods are receiving a lot of interest today as food scientists and consumers realize the many health benefits of certain foods. Nutraceuticals, functional foods and value added food products are therefore rich repositories of health promoting bioactive compounds. This volume covers new and innovative technologies for the processing of functional foods and nutraceuticals. The challenges and opportunities, motivating the development and regulations of functional foods and nutraceuticals were discussed. In recent years there is a growing interest in nutraceuticals which provide health benefits and are alternative to modern medicine. Nutrients, herbals and dietary supplements are major constituents of nutraceuticals which make them instrumental in maintaining health, act against various disease conditions and thus promote the quality of life. The explosive growth, research developments, lack of standards, marketing zeal, quality assurance and regulation will play a vital role in its success or failure. This book is a reference guide for students, researchers and scientists working in food ingredients, food product research and development, functional foods and nutraceuticals.
