Polymers are an important part in everyday life; products made from polymers range from sophisticated articles, such as biomaterials, to aerospace materials. One of the reasons for the great popularity exhibited by polymers is their ease of processing. Polymer properties can be tailored to meet specific needs by varying the “atomic composition” of the repeat structure, by varying molecular weight and by the incorporation (via covalent and non-covalent interactions) of an enormous range of compounds to impart specific activities. In food science, the use of polymeric materials is widely explored, from both an engineering and a nutraceutical point of view. Regarding the engineering application, researchers have discovered the most suitable materials for intelligent packaging which preserves the food quality and prolongs the shelf-life of the products. Furthermore, in agriculture, specific functionalized polymers are used to increase the efficiency of treatments and reduce the environmental pollution. In the nutraceutical field, because consumers are increasingly conscious of the relationship between diet and health, the consumption of high quality foods has been growing continuously. Different compounds (e.g. high quality proteins, lipids and polysaccharides) are well known to contribute to the enhancement of human health by different mechanisms, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary disease, and hypertension. This second volume focuses on the importance of polymers and functional food and in food processing
Polymers are an important part in everyday life; products made from polymers range from sophisticated articles, such as biomaterials, to aerospace materials. One of the reasons for the great popularity exhibited by polymers is their ease of processing. Polymer properties can be tailored to meet specific needs by varying the «atomic composition» of the repeat structure, by varying molecular weight and by the incorporation (via covalent and non-covalent interactions) of an enormous range of compounds to impart specific activities. In food science, the use of polymeric materials is widely explored, from both an engineering and a nutraceutical point of view. Regarding the engineering application, researchers have discovered the most suitable materials for intelligent packaging which preserves the food quality and prolongs the shelf-life of the products. Furthermore, in agriculture, specific functionalized polymers are used to increase the efficiency of treatments and reduce the environmental pollution. In the nutraceutical field, because consumers are increasingly conscious of the relationship between diet and health, the consumption of high quality foods has been growing continuously. Different compounds (e.g. high quality proteins, lipids and polysaccharides) are well known to contribute to the enhancement of human health by different mechanisms, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary disease, and hypertension. This first volume, of this two volume book, concerns the application of polymers in food packaging.
Food safety and quality are key objectives for food scientists and industries all over the world. To achieve this goal, several analytical techniques (based on both destructive detection and nondestructive detection) have been proposed to fit the government regulations. The book aims to cover all the analytical aspects of the food quality and safety assessment. For this purpose, the volume describes the most relevant techniques employed for the determination of the major food components (e.g. protein, polysaccharides, lipds, vitamins, etc.), with peculiar attention to the recent development in the field. Furthermore, the evaluation of the risk associated with food consumption is performed by exploring the recent advances in the detection of the key food contaminants (e.g. biogenic amines, pesticides, toxins, etc.). Chapters tackle such subject as: GMO Analysis Methods in Food Current Analytical Techniques for the Analysis of Food Lipids Analytical Methods for the Analysis of Sweeteners in Food Analytical Methods for Pesticides Detection in Foodstuffs Food and Viral Contamination Application of Biosensors to Food Analysis