eChapters

Introduction
 
Developments in innovative food packaging technologies have evolved in response to the need for protection of the food product containing bioactive component from both external and internal environments and in response to consumer expectations for health claims, convenience and product safety. Consumers around the world are willing to pay extra for guaranteed product freshness delivered by the type of packaging. Many new packaging developments have focused on extending the shelf life of the product and on delivering a higher quality product to the consumer. These developments would not be possible without significant advances in the materials used in packaging and the incorporation of various types of sensors into food packaging. This chapter outlines the innovative packaing solutions in the production of functional food.

Introduction
 
The emerging functional foods market presents a considerable challenge to all manufacturers to keep abreast of the use of adequate packaging materials for their products. The interest in functional foods is intrinsically linked to the potential health benefits of their bioactive components. Preserving these bioactive components is, therefore, a crucial factor to providing the anticipated health benefits of functional foods. However, recurring failure in maintaining the quality of functional foods has been reported. Functional foods include a wide variety of products such as prebiotics and probiotics, dried foods (fibers, probiotics, tea, herbs, etc.), fermented products (yogurts, kefirs, vegetables), and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Introduction

The emerging functional foods market presents a considerable challenge to all manufacturers to keep abreast of the use of adequate packaging materials for their products. The interest in functional foods is intrinsically linked to the potential health benefits of their bioactive components. Preserving these bioactive components is, therefore, a crucial factor to providing the anticipated health benefits of functional foods. However, recurring failure in maintaining the quality of functional foods has been reported. Functional foods include a wide variety of products such as prebiotics and probiotics, dried foods (fibers, tea, herbs, etc.), fermented products (yogurts, kefirs, vegetables), and fresh fruits and vegetables. Their bioactive components (minerals, vitamins, fibers, peptides, proteins, w–3 polyunsaturated fats, antioxidants, enzymes, and symbiotics) range from very simple molecules to complex living organisms such as bacteria.

Introduction

Since 1990, there has been a lot of interest in functional foods and nutraceuticals, particularly because of their impact effects on human health and the prevention of certain diseases. Apart from growing good quality natural products, there are challenges in extracting, refining, analyzing active ingredients, and evaluating safety before an effective, reliable product is made [1,2]. Special attention needs to be focused on separation and purification mainly because 40-80% of the cost of production is assigned to separation and purification unit operations in making functional foods and nutraceuticals. There are also several carotenoids and polyphenol products that have been identified from various plants and a single plant could contain highly complex profiles of these compounds. These are labile to heat, air, and light, and they may exist at low concentrations in the plants. This makes the separation and detection of nutraceuticals a challenging task. The membrane techniques used for the separation of nutraceuticals from the natural products, as well as their applications and influencing factors are discussed in this chapter [3, 4].

Introduction

Spray drying process has been used for decades to encapsulate food ingredients such as flavors, lipids, and carotenoids. During this drying process, the evaporation of solvent, that is most often water, is rapid and the entrapment of the interest compound occurs quasi-instantaneously. This required property imposes a strict screening of the encapsulating materials to be used in addition to an optimization of the operating conditions. Likewise, if the encapsulated compound is of hydrophobic nature, the stability of the feed emulsion before drying should also be considered.

Introduction
 
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the functional foods because they can provide physiological benefits additional to nutritional and energetic, as for instance, antihypertensive, antioxidant or anti-inflammatory [1]. A functional food can be defined as a food that produces a beneficial effect in one or more physiological functions, increases the welfare and/or decreases the risk of suffering a particular disease. Furthermore, new types of products, derived from food, called nutraceuticals have recently been developed. These products, usually employed as food supplements, are marketed as tablets and pills, and can provide important health benefits.

Introduction

Encapsulation may be defined as a process to entrap one substance (active agent) within another substance (wall material). The encapsulated substance, except active agent, can be called the core, fill, active, internal or payload phase. The substance that is encapsulating is often called the coating, membrane, shell, capsule, carrier material, external phase, or matrix. In the food industry, encapsulation process can be applied for a variety of reasons. Encapsulation is a useful tool to improve delivery of bioactive molecules (e.g. antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, phytosterols, lutein, fatty acids, lycopene) and living cells  (e.g. probiotics) into foods [1]. In most cases, encapsulation refers to a technology in which the bioactive components are completely enveloped, covered and protected by a physical barrier, without any protrusion of the bioactive components. Also, encapsulation has been defined as a technology of packaging solids, liquids, or gaseous materials in small capsules that release their contents at controlled rates over prolonged periods and under specific conditions. Produced particles usually have diameters of a few nm to a few mm.

Introduction

Spices and aromatic herbs have been used since antiquity as preservatives, colorants, and flavour enhancers. Spices, which have long been the basis of traditional medicine in many countries, have also been the subject of study, particularly by the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries, because of their potential use for improving health. Both in-vitro and in-vivo studies have demonstrated how these substances act as antioxidants, digestive stimulants, and hypolipidemics and show antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-carcenogenic activities. These beneficial physiological effects may also have possible preventative applications in a variety of pathologies. The chapter presents an overview of the potential of spices and aromatic herbs as functional foods ingredients.

Introduction
 
Whilst food has long been used to improve health, our knowledge of the relationship between food components and health is now being used to improve food. Although most foods can be considered “functional”, in the context of this review, the term is reserved for foods and food components that have been demonstrated to provide specific health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Widespread interest in select foods that might promote health has resulted in the use of the term “functional foods”. Seaweeds are known for their richness in polysaccharides, minerals and certain vitamins [1], but they also contain bioactive substances like polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and polyphenols, with antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal, as well as many such other properties [2]. This gives seaweed great potential as a supplement in functional food or for the extraction of compounds. Physiologically active substances in marine algae are classified into two types based on the difference in the mechanisms viz. (i) non-absorbed high-molecular materials like dietary fibres, and (ii) low molecular materials, which are absorbed and which affect the maintenance of human homeostasis directly. Seaweeds are among the first marine organisms chemically analyzed, with more than 3,600 articles published describing 3,300 secondary metabolites from marine plants and algae, and they still remain an almost endless source of new bioactive compounds [3].

Introduction

The term probiotic is derived from Greek and means ‘for life’ as opposed to antibiotics which means ‘against life’. The history of probiotics began with the consumption of fermented foods which was first observed in ancient Greeks and Romans [1]. The term, probiotic, as is used today was first used by Parker in 1974. Parker defined ‘probiotic’ as substances and organisms which contribute to intestinal microbial balance. In 1989, the term was modified further by Fuller. Thus, probiotic is a live microbial supplement which affects the host’s health positively by improving its intestinal microbial balance. This definition was broadened to include mono or mixed culture of live microorganisms which benefits animals or man by improving the properties of the indigenous microflora [2]. Some authors have interpreted probiotics as microbial cell preparations or components of microbial cells that have a beneficial effect on the health and well-being of the host.

Introduction
 
Dairy ingredients are of significant importance in the formulation of many food products. Additionally, the incorporation of dairy ingredients, comprehensively recognized by the consumer as “natural” intensifies the odds of success of packaged foods and adds functional properties of the dairy ingredients in the targeted product. Dairy ingredients can be extracted from fluid milk in the form of cream, butter, condensed milk, dry milk, cheese, and whey products [1]. They provide beneficial functionality to foods, such as delivery of key nutrients, water management, fat-holding capacity, emulsification capability, viscosity creation, gel formation, and foam generation apart from providing desirable attributes of texture and flavour. Various ingredients and claims associated with dairy foods are shown in Table 3.1.

Introduction

Vast proportions of the population of the world are dependent on plants as their principal source of food either directly or indirectly. Recent decades have also seen increased numbers of people turning to alternative medical therapy based upon traditional folk medicine or food as a form of medicine. These alternative therapies emphasise the importance of a ‘good diet’ in maintaining and restoring health. Under these circumstances, vast majority of population may see diet therapy, dietary supplements and non-invasive alternative therapies as a safer, less technological and more natural way of maintaining health and treating and preventing individuals from illness. These alternatives may be seen as empowering the consumer and shifting the locus of control away from the medical establishment. This chapter covers many crucial topics to understand the chemistry and bioactivity of the active compounds of plant origin. It also aims to cover the latest research on the bioactive compounds.

Introduction

The tenet “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” said by Hippocrates nearly 2,500 years ago, is receiving renewed interest. In particular, there has been an explosion of consumer interest in the health enhancing role of specific foods or physiologically active food components called as functional foods [1]. Clearly, all foods are functional, as they provide taste, aroma, or nutritive value. Within the last decade, however, the term functional as it applies to food has adopted a different meaning - that of providing an additional physiological benefit beyond that of meeting basic nutritional needs.

R is a software package / language / environment for statistical analysis and graphics.

It Reads Any Type of Data *.txt, .csv, .dat, etc.), You can also scrape (collect) data from websites and execute SQL queries It Supports Large Data Sets. Reproducibility.  R allows you to add comments to your scripts to make it clear to you and others on what you’re doing as data and analysis are separated in R. As R is fully free you can use the latest version on any / as many computers so you and your student can work on the same version. You can use R on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix. Anyone (Including You) Can Contribute Packages to the Community to Improve its Functionality.

You can download R from : http://cran.r-project.org. R has a command line interface and that is a huge hurdle for many users, but believe us you will find that using a command line is also easy. However we strongly recommend the R Studio text editor for working with R scripts (http://www.rstudio.com/ide/download).

Nursery is a place where plants are grown, nurtured and sold out. Generally, various commercial crop growers require a good quality saplings or grafts of genuine type.
 
Diseases and insects are as much a problem in growing plants in the nursery as they are in growing any other crop. It is always better to monitor the nursery continually with respect to disease and insects damage and select the proper control measures or pesticides for identified pests. Horticultural nurseries are heterogenous and especially complex agricultural systems, which present formidable challenges to management of diseases and pests. Moreover, nursery plants transported interstate and internationally can serve as important vectors for pathogens and insects that threaten both agriculture and forestry.

Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.)  commonly known as drumstick or sehjna is a multipurpose tree of India and grown intensively in the tropics and sub-tropics. It is a vitamin rich, mineral packed and nutritious vegetable crop. The name drumstick is derived from the pod shape resembling the slender and curved stick used for beating drum. Fruits are also resembled with the siliqua of radish and hence the name is “radish tree’’. Ancient Indian literature mentioned that moringa is an interesting plant due to its widespread uses in socio-economic for food, medicine, agriculture and industry.

Indian Aloe (Aloe barbadensis Mill.)  is commonly known as Ghritkumari in Sanskrit and Bangla, Ghikwar or Ghikanwar in Hindi, Aloe in English, Ghiquara in Urdu, Darkhtesibra in Persian, Sabbarat in Arbi, Guarpatha in Rajasthani, Koryed, Korkanta and Elwa in Marathi, Kunwargandal in Punjabi, Lolesara and Katthaligida in Kannada, Kattavala in Malyalam, Sirukanthli, Sirukattashai, Kattazhai, Sorttukathali and Chirukattali in Tamil, Kalawand, Manjikattali, Pinngorisht Kalvand and Chinnakalabanda in Telgu, Kumari and Mushaboro in Oriya and  Musabbar in Kashmiri. Because of its nutritional qualities, anti-oxidant and medicinal values, it is often called as ‘The Miracle Plant’, ‘The Natural Healer’, ‘The Health Plant’ and by many other names.

Khejri (Prosopis cineraria), also known as shami (Sanskrit), janti and jand (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab), sumi (Gujarat), banni (Karnataka), kandi (Sindh) is a leguminous tree species of arid and semi-arid regions. It not only tolerates the extreme edapho-climatic conditions of these regions but also bears flowers and fruits and that too during the driest period from February to May (Pareek, 2002). Khejri is a tree having multipurpose uses, viz. nutritious rich pods and fodder and valuable fuel, besides its favourable effects on ecology and soil fertility(Arya et al.,1991). It is an important perennial component compatible to almost any companion crop in various agri-horti-forestry systems of production in the hot arid ecosystem (Harsh and Tewari, 1998). The crops such as bajra, guar, moth, mung, cowpea and ground nut during kharif and wheat, mustard, gram, etc. during rabi season are grown between the natural plantations of khejri trees without adverse effect on growth of crops. Almost all the vegetable crops grow better between the widespread natural this leguminous tree. Also the fruits such as ber, aonla, bael, kinnow, lime, etc. have been observed to perform better in association of khejri trees. Excellent growth and development of desert plant species of commercial significance such as jharber, ker, lasora, pilu, rohida, kumat, phog, kheep and grasses like sewan, dhaman, etc. has been observed in association with khejri trees (Mann and Saxena,1980; Samadia,2007, Samadia et al., 2009).

Henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) is a multipurpose shrub also known as mehandi. It is grown through out the country as a hedge plant. In India, it was once grown extensively in Punjab and Gujarat. However, gradually major cultivation has shifted to the arid fringes of Rajasthan with the Pali district having the maximum area under henna cultivation. It is taken as an annual ratoon crop under rain fed conditions. Presently there are over 22,000 ha of henna plantations in the Pali district nearly 70 percent occurring in the Sojat area which produces around 20000 tonnes dry leaves worth Rs.40 crores annually. Sojat city is world famous for its mehandi or henna (Heena) powder.

Senna (Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) popularly called as ‘Sonamukhi’ is widely used medicinal herb in Ayurveda, Unani and also in Allopathic system of medicine. It is well known for its purgative activity (Bentley and Trimen, 1999). The plant is known by various names in common conversation likes Sennai, Sona, Sonamukhi, Sennamukki, Sonpar, etc.  Presently, there is a growing demand of senna  dry leaves and processed products in the national as well as in international markets. In recent years, its cultivation has gained momentum in arid and semi- arid parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat due to its diversified adaptability. It has also been widely adopted by the farmers because of its low cost of cultivation with yield stability. Its main characteristics viz., drought hardy, perenniality, non-palatability to animals has also attracted the farmers for its popularity. Moreover, the senna crop is eco-friendly as it can be utilized for wasteland, sand dune stabilization and desert development (Bohra and Sankhla, 1997; Tripathi, 1999).