Ebook: Functional foods and beverages : in vitro assessment of nutritional, sensory, and safety properties

"In vitro methods for evaluating foods and beverages functionality and toxicity are key in academic and industrial research. These methods are usually quick and less expensive than human studies. They allow for better targeting of further human studies and sometimes facilitate progress in the understanding of human physiology. These methods are widespread in academic and industrial research and some protocols have even been patented. Thus it is critical to provide industry professionals and researchers with up-to-date information on available tools to test the functionality and the toxicity of foods, beverages and ingredients in vitro. This book is aimed at industry professionals, academic researchers and graduate involved in research activities related to the functional, sensory and safety attributes of foods, beverages and their constituent ingredients. Functional attributes covered by this book would include nutritional functionality of macro-, micro- and phyto-nutrients, sensory properties (taste, flavour and texture), and toxicology. An introductory section covers the physiological mechanisms driving food and beverage functional attributes in the human body and the tools available to model and mimic the human gastrointestinal tract. Then, each type of functionality is treated according to its modelling and testing in vitro with a critical assessment as to the test method accuracy compared to the human body."  Read more...