eChapters

In most countries there is no legislative definition of the term drawing a border line between conventional and functional foods is challenging even for nutrition and food experts. Functional foods do not have a specific place in food law; consequently there is a great deal of confusion about what they are, could or should be. A common perception is that functional foods are foodstuffs either with one or more specific added ingredients (components), or certain substances of common ingredients (components) removed and which are claimed to have a positive influence on human health or well being. The term ‘functional foods’ for this group of products is considered to be an unfortunate one since all foodstuffs are or should be functional and a more appropriate term might be helpful.

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.

Abstract

Functional foods and nutraceuticals are one of the fastest-growing segments of the food industry. The demand for these foods is driven by health conscious consumer and the growing awareness of the close connection between diet and health, particularly in relation to chronic diseases. Over the past five years (20082012), the Indian Nutraceuticals Market has been growing at a rapid pace and is expected to rise to US $ 5 billion by 2015. The rapid growth and development of this new industry combined with the need to protect consumer health and interests, has led to the evolution of a myriad of different regulatory frameworks and policies across multiple markets. Japan was one of the first countries to recognize a different category of healthier food products. The Japanese government formally accepted this category in the 1980s. Other developed countries viz. The EU, The US, Canada etc also regulated this sector during 1990s. In India, the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 (FSSA) was enacted in 2006 in response to pressure from stakeholders and the food industry, transforming the regulation of food in India. Punjab state, with abundance of food grains and increasing trends in fruits and vegetables, provides options for both the producer and growth promotion in the nutraceuticals sector through partenship between research centers, private entrepreneurs and indigenous communities. Regulatory frameworks should focus on the protection of consumers, promotion of fair trade and innovation in the sector. This paper discusses functional foods and nutraceuticals as per food regulations prevalent in various countries and highlights how these regulatory frameworks play a major role in transforming the food sector.

Introduction

The health and wellness continue to drive growth in the global food industry as the consumers are constantly looking for the foods, beverages and other dietary solutions that will help them more aggressively to meet their own unique nutrition and personal health goals. Worldwide countries are going through a nutritional transition and are now affected by double burden of problems like nutritional and food security. The common alarming problems are under nutrition and specific nutrient deficiencies simultaneously coupled with imbalanced diets and chronic diseases. The problem of chronic diseases, non-communicable diseases (cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, diabetes, obesity, cancer etc.) and malnutrition is more serious in the developing countries. The lack of access to health services, sufficient income, healthy and nutritious foods characterize majority of poor people in developing countries. So, food is not only the solution but also viewed as a product to enhance health and wellbeing, and it encourages the producers by supplying new goods that meet these needs. From the past decade, there has been growing consumer awareness regarding health, nutrition and the food safety which are often triggered by specific food incidents, especially in the developed countries and high-income groups in such countries. In the food industry there have been two broad trends which are hazards in the food chain and nutritional profile of the food. There has been recognition that hazards and contaminants can enter the food chain and can cause sickness, death and diseases, and so governments, often to deal with consumer and industry concerns, establish regulations and standards on food hazards including standards on pesticides, antibiotics, microbiological hazards and other chemical and physical contaminants. On the other hand, there is also a growing awareness of the health-enhancing properties for prevention and treatment of health concerns beyond the basic nutritional component of many foods.

Introduction

Increasing knowledge regarding the impact of diet on human health along with state-of-the-art technologies has led to significant nutritional discoveries, product innovations, and mass production on an unprecedented scale. In particular, naturally occurring bioactive extracts or single compounds thereof, that are believed to benefit human health, have spawned an important and dynamic new area of research resulting in substantial advances in nutritional knowledge. There is also growing awareness that dietary source and form of food may affect overall health. Suitably, the role of food as an agent for improving health has been recognized, initiating the development of new classes of food, known as functional foods (Honkanen 2009).

The concept of functional foods is to improve the general conditions of the body and decrease the risk of illness and disease. That is to say, bioactive compounds present as natural constituents or as fortificants in food having the potential to provide health benefits beyond the basic nutritional value of the product. Marine-derived nutrients and other marine bioactive components have excellent potential as functional food ingredients as they possess advantageous physiological effects, with medicinal characteristics and added health benefits such as anticancer or anti-inflammatory activity.

The marine world, due to its phenomenal biodiversity, is a rich natural resource of many biologically active compounds such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), sterols, proteins, polysaccharides, antioxidants and pigments. Many marine organisms live in complex habitats exposed to extreme conditions and, in adapting to new environmental surroundings, they produce a wide variety of secondary (biologically active) metabolites which cannot be found in other organisms. Moreover, considering its great taxonomic diversity, investigations related to the search of new bioactive compounds from the marine environment can be seen as an almost unlimited field.

Nutraceuticals and Health Foods

    1.    According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC), functional foods are “foods or dietary components that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition.”

    2.    Nutraceuticals : A product isolated and purified from foods that is generally- sold in medicinal forms are usually associated with food. A nutraceutical is demonstrated to have a physiological benefit or provide protection against chronic disease (Coined originally by Stephen DeFelice in 1989, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, USA).

    3.    The International Life Sciences Institute of North America (ILSI) has defined functional foods as “foods that by virtue of physiologically active food components provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition

    4.    Health Canada defines functional foods as “similar in appearance to a conventional food, consumed as part of the usual diet, with demonstrated physiological benefits, and/or to reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions.”

INTRODUCTION

A food may have three attributes (1) Provide energy and nutrition (2) Give pleasure, i.e., enjoyable aroma, colour, and taste and (3) Health benefits. Functional food has physiological benefits and reduces the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutrition.

Functional foods, also reported as ‘nutraceuticals’, ‘medical foods’ or ‘designer foods’ in the literature, were first described by Roberfroid (1999) as ‘Food similar in appearance to conventional food that is intended to be consumed as part of a normal diet, but has been modified to subserve physiological roles beyond the provision of simple nutrient requirements’. Examples are iodized salts, vitamin A and vitamin D fortified milk and yoghurt, folic acid enriched bread, soy products, wheat bran and oats products.

The word nutrition first appeared in 1551 and comes from the Latin word nutrire, meaning “to nourish.” Today, we define nutrition as the sum of all processes involved in how organisms obtain nutrients, metabolize them, and use them to support all of life’s processes. Nutritional science is the investigation of how an organism is nourished, and incorporates the study of how nourishment affects personal health, population health, and planetary health. Nutritional science covers a wide spectrum of disciplines. As a result, nutritional scientists can specialize in particular aspects of nutrition such as biology, physiology, immunology, biochemistry, education, psychology, sustainability, and sociology.

Disease is defined as any abnormal condition affecting the health of an organism, and is characterized by specific signs and symptoms. Signs refer to identifying characteristics of a disease such as swelling, weight loss, or fever. Symptoms are the features of a disease recognized by a patient and/or their doctor. Symptoms can include nausea, fatigue, irritability, and pain. Diseases are broadly categorized as resulting from pathogens (i.e., bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites), deficiencies, genetics, and physiological dysfunction. Diseases that primarily affect physical health are those that impair body structure (as is the case with osteoporosis), or functioning (as is the case with cardiovascular disease). Mental illnesses primarily affect mental and social well-being.

The foods we eat contain nutrients. Nutrients are substances required by the body to perform its basic functions. Nutrients must be obtained from diet, since the human body does not synthesize them. Nutrients are used to produce energy, detect and respond to environmental surroundings, move, excrete wastes, respire (breathe), grow, and reproduce. There are six classes of nutrients required for the body to function and maintain overall health. These are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, water, vitamins, and minerals. Foods also contain non-nutrients that may be harmful (such as cholesterol, dyes, and preservatives) or beneficial (such as antioxidants).

1. Introduction

A confection is sweet tasting delicacies developed using sugar and other carbohydrates with optionally selected chocolate, nuts, fruits, vegetables or gums. Depending on the formulation, the confection may vary from sugar boiled hard lozenges to gum based soft gummy toffees, from chewing gums to mouth melting chocolates. The versatile and broad variation in the product created by differentiating flavours, ingredients and processing has greatly influenced the market demand of these products. Although confection is non-essential commodity but still relished by people of all economic strata and hence creating a great market space and scope of new products.

In confectionery research and development area, current popular sector is functional confections. The sector has been on the trends radar globally, accounting for 8% of the global confectionery market, and most accepted and successful in Japan.

Functional Genomics

• Expressed genes can be identified in a cDNA library
• A microarray can identify genes that are transcribed
• The coordinate regulation of many genes is revealed by a DNA microarray analysis

Proteomics

The proteome is much larger than the genome

2D gel electrophoresis is used to separate a mixture of cellular proteins

Mass spectrometry is used to identify proteins

Protein microarrays can be used to study protein expression and function

15.1 Introduction
Milk is a multifaceted physiological fluid that aids infants in their transition to life outside the womb by supporting digestion and development, as well as providing essential nutrients and bioactive components. It promotes the development of beneficial microflora and enhances the growth of lymphoid tissue. Recent research indicates that the quantity and importance of bioactive compounds in milk may be greater than previously believed. Through research, the distribution and presence of essential components in various animal milks have been analyzed. The consumption of dairy products has been linked to health benefits that mitigate the adverse effects of obesity and overweight. These benefits include a decreased likelihood of being underweight, reduced blood pressure, and a reduced risk of stroke, colon cancer, and osteoporosis. Dairy products provide a valuable combination of nutrients, such as proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, that are essential for the maintenance of blood health, the support of the nervous and immune systems, the improvement of vision, the support of muscle and nerve function, the maintenance of skin health, the maintenance of energy levels, and the overall growth and repair of the body. Furthermore, dairy products can function as carriers for bioactive compounds and may provide a variety of health benefits, such as improved immune function, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, reduced bone mass loss, and protection against free radical damage, when consumed in an appropriate quantity. Incorporating fruits and vegetables in a variety of forms—including fresh, desiccated, powdered, juiced, pureed, pulped, or extracted—into dairy products such as yogurt, ice cream, and cheese also presents an opportunity to improve their health benefits.

Abstract

Seaweeds are the large marine algae that grow almost exclusively in the shallow waters at the edge of the oceans. Seaweeds are rich sources of many bioactive compounds and nutraceuticals. These factors are considered under two categories: Seaweed phytochemicals and Seaweed polysaccharides. They are rich in soluble dietary fibers, proteins, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, with low caloric value. The red, brown and green seaweeds have been shown to have therapeutic properties for health and disease management. Usually they are only used as gelling agent and stabilizers in the food and pharmaceutical industries, but current research has revealed their potential medicinal uses against many diseases like cancer, allergy, diabetes, oxidative stress, inflammation, thrombosis, obesity, hypertensive and other degenerative ailments. In line with other natural foods like fruits, vegetables and grains, there has been marked interest within the scientific community to assess which fractions of seaweeds may be linked to the historically observed health benefits. As consumer health and nutrition become more influential in the food industry, the use of seaweed as an ingredient is on the rise in product development. For several centuries there has been a traditional use of seaweeds as food in China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. This review undertakes successful exploration of potential of seaweed gums as an functional ingredient in a number of food applications. This addition has the potential to enhance the nutritional quality of a product and hence human health.

This chapter introduces the functional properties that make eggs valuable ingredients in food systems. It explains coagulation and heat-setting, foaming and aeration, emulsification, gelation, colour and flavour development, binding, adhesion and thickening. The effects of pH, temperature, processing conditions and other factors on functional performance are examined. Applications in bakery, confectionery, mayonnaise, sauces, meat products and other foods are discussed. The chapter demonstrates that eggs provide multiple technological functions simultaneously, making them particularly valuable and difficult to replace with a single alternative ingredient.

Introduction

One of the main properties of fermented foods whether alkaline or acidic is the presence and activity of beneficial organisms which themselves make these foods functional. These functional micro organisms have varied roles like conversion of the native constituents of raw materials to forms in which they are more bioavailable, formation of taste, colour and flavouring compounds thereby imparting pleasantness to foods, removal of anti-nutritive factors in food by converting them into much less harmful compounds or degrade certain native toxic elements present in food, formation of biopreservatives which will extend the shelf life of foods and provide microbial security, as pathogens and spoilage microorganisms fail to readily grow in such hostile conditions. These functional microorganisms also produce in foods certain health-promoting bioactive compounds like enzymes, vitamins, minerals or increase the digestibility which may not have been in the original food or raw material before fermentation. In other words they improve the nutrition profile of the foods or naturally fortify foods. Some of these beneficial effects may also lead to the formation of certain compounds which show antioxidant properties in foods. These very roles played by these functional micro-organisms form criteria in their selection for use in food fermentations when they are intentionally added to foods both to initiate and accomplish desired fermentations.

Plants have the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions, and to defend against attack from predators such as insects, fungi and herbivorous mammals. Many of these phyto chemicals have beneficial effects on long-term health when consumed by humans, and can be used to effectively treat human diseases. At least 12,000 such compounds have been isolated so far; a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total (Tapsell et al., 2006; Lai and Roy, 2004). These phyto-chemicals are divided into: (1) primary metabolites such as sugars and fats, which are found in all plants; and (2) secondary metabolites (SM) – compounds which are found in a smaller range of plants, serving a more specific function (Meskin, 2002). For example, some secondary metabolites are toxins used to deter predation and others are pheromones used to attract insects for pollination.

Abstract
 
Spray drying is used as one of the best alternatives for extracting essential constituents of fruit and vegetables. Spray drying of fruits and vegetable juice/purees, which is an excellent source of bio-functional properties into a solid phase helps to enhance their stability and controlled release in different food matrices. Spray drying along with different carrying agents helps to retain essential active compounds in fruits and vegetables. Spray drying is generally carried in three steps viz. atomization of liquid feed by suitable atomizer; drying of droplets with the help of hot air and motion of droplets. Carrier agents like maltodextrin, wax starch, Gum Arabic and microcrystalline cellulose are added to the feed to increase glass transition temperature. Chapter presents the effects of different operating parameters of spray drying as well as effects of carrier agents on the physicochemical and functional properties of spray dried fruit and vegetables powders.

Abstract

Wheat gluten consists mainly of gliadin and glutenin polypeptides. During mixing gliadin and glutenin proteins interact to form a unique viscoelastic gluten network, which is envisaged as being necessary for holding the gases and for producing a light porous crumb textured bread. Recent work has confirmed that the elastic properties of gluten are due to the glutenin fraction, whilst the viscous properties are attributed to the gliadin fraction. Equal amount of these two major protein components of wheat gluten is required for achieving the desired bread quality, but variation in the composition and physical properties of the glutenin polypeptides appear to be largely responsible for the differences in the gluten viscoelasticity and breadmaking potential among wheat cultivars. Recently, associations of gliadin polypeptides with breadmaking quality have also been reported. Using improved protein separation and purification techniques, physical methods and genetic engineering, we are beginning to understand the structure-functional relationship of wheat gluten proteins, but much remains to be explored in the years to come. 

The functioning of the Women Dairy Cooperative Societies depends upon the variations in managerial capacity leading to profit and loss of different WDCS. To make an in-depth analysis, the study was undertaken in undivided Cuttack and Dhenkanal district of Odisha covering 22 randomized WDCS with a sample of 110 women respondents.

The analysis of the findings after statistical treatment have been presented objective-wise as follows;

Socio-economic profile of the members of WDCS involved in dairy production activities.

Gap between procedures prescribed and followed in formation and functioning of WDCS.

Identification and analysis of key performance areas in the WDCS.

Determination of management practices and milk production profiles of WDCS members.

Extent of participation of women members in dairy activities.

Entrepreneurial characteristics of members of Women Dairy Cooperative Society.

Impact of WDCS on socio-economic status of the members.

Correlating variables and their interrelationship in predicting smooth functioning of WDCS.

Constraints faced by the WDCS members.

Suggestions of members for improvement in functioning of WDCS

Every nutrient has its specific functions to play in the biological system. As we know there are six nutrients i.e., water, carbohydrate, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins and each of these have different functions, it will be discussed separately for each nutrients.

2.1 Water

Water is the ideal dispersing medium because of its solvent and ionizing powers which facilititates cell reaction and due to its high specific heat which helps to absorb the heat of these reactions with a minimum rise of temperature. Lean adult body contains about 70 percent of water, though the amount varies from embryo to mature animals.

A business plan is a document that summarises a company’s operational and financial goals. It is a road map to success for a business, with detailed plans and budgets outlining how the goals will be met. A business plan outlines how a company will achieve its objectives. A business plan is an essential first step for anyone starting a business. These concrete milestones will aid in tracking the company’s success (or lack thereof). There are various business plans for various purposes, and the best business plans are living documents that respond as quickly as possible to real-world factors.

A good business plan adheres to widely accepted guidelines in terms of both form and content. A business plan is divided into three sections:

• The first is the business concept, in which you discuss the industry, your business structure, your specific product or service, and your plans for success.