Natural Colorants as Bioactive Agents in Functional Foods

2011 ◽  
pp. 351-364
Author(s):  
Ann Craig
Keyword(s):  
Functional Foods ◽  
Natural Colorants ◽  
Bioactive Agents

Potential Pharmaceutical and Food Applications of Postbiotics: A Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 1576-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aziz H. Rad ◽  
Amin Abbasi ◽  
Hossein S. Kafil ◽  
Khudaverdi Ganbarov
Keyword(s):  
Functional Foods ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Pharmaceutical Formulations ◽  
Live Cells ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Safe Product ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Food Applications ◽  
Potential Alternative ◽  
Bioactive Agents

In recent decades, functional foods with ingredients comprising probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics have been gaining a lot of attention from scientists. Probiotics and postbiotics are usually applied in pharmaceutical formulations and/or commercial food-based products. These bioactive agents can be associated with host eukaryotic cells and have a key role in maintaining and restoring host health. The review describes the concept of postbiotics, their quality control and potential applications in pharmaceutical formulations and commercial food-based products for health promotion, prevention of disease and complementary treatment. Despite the effectiveness of probiotic products, researchers have introduced the concept of postbiotic to optimize their beneficial effects as well as to meet the needs of consumers to provide a safe product. The finding of recent studies suggests that postbiotics might be appropriate alternative agents for live probiotic cells and can be applied in medical, veterinary and food practice to prevent and to treat some diseases, promote animal health status and develop functional foods. Presently scientific literature confirms that postbiotics, as potential alternative agents, may have superiority in terms of safety relative to their parent live cells, and due to their unique characteristics in terms of clinical, technological and economical aspects, can be applied as promising tools in the drug and food industry for developing health benefits, and therapeutic aims.

Are functional foods redefining nutritional requirements?

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Jones ◽  
Krista A. Varady
Keyword(s):  
Functional Foods ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Plasma Cholesterol ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
Plant Sterols ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Nutrient Requirement ◽  
Bioactive Agents ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Physiological Benefits

Functional foods are increasing in popularity owing to their ability to confer health and physiological benefits. Nevertheless, the notion that functional foods improve health when providing nutrients at levels above and beyond existing recommended intakes is inconsistent with the definition of requirement. This disparity highlights the need for an alternative definition of nutrient requirement. The present objective is to examine distinctions between optimization of health, as defined by what we currently deem as required intakes, versus adding physiological benefit using bioactive agents found in functional foods. Presently, requirement is defined as the lowest amount of intake of a nutrient that will maintain a defined level of nourishment for a specific indicator of adequacy. In contrast, functional foods are described as ingredients that are not necessary for body function, yet provide added physiological benefit that confer better overall health. Plant sterols are one example of such an ingredient. Plant sterols lower plasma cholesterol concentrations, and may thus be considered essential nutrients in physiological situations where circulating cholesterol concentrations are high. Similarly, intakes of omega-3 fats beyond existing requirement may confer additional health benefits such as hypolipidemic and anti-diabetic effects. These examples underscore the inconsistencies between what is defined as a nutrient requirement versus what is identified as a health benefit of a functional food. Such discrepancies emphasize the need for a more all-encompassing definition of a nutrient requirement; that is, one that moves beyond the prevention of overt deficiency to encompass improved health and disease risk reduction.

Diet Quality, a Term Subject to Change over Time

2012 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Elmadfa ◽  
Alexa L. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Diet Quality ◽  
Functional Foods ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Quality Factors ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Quality Diet ◽  
Important Quality ◽  
Health And Well Being

A high-quality diet is one of the foundations of health and well-being. For a long time in human history, diet was chiefly a source of energy and macronutrients meant to still hunger and give the strength for work and activities that were in general much harder than nowadays. Only few persons could afford to emphasize enjoyment. In the assessment of quality, organoleptic properties were major criteria to detect spoilage and oxidative deterioration of food. Today, food hygiene is a quality aspect that is often taken for granted by consumers, despite its lack being at the origin of most food-borne diseases. The discovery of micronutrients entailed fundamental changes of the concept of diet quality. However, non-essential food components with additional health functions were still barely known or not considered important until recently. With the high burden of obesity and its associated diseases on the rise, affluent, industrialized countries have developed an increased interest in these substances, which has led to the development of functional foods to optimize special body functions, reduce disease risk, or even contribute to therapeutic approaches. Indeed, nowadays, high contents of energy, fat, and sugar are factors associated with a lower quality of food, and products with reduced amounts of these components are valued by many consumers. At the same time, enjoyment and convenience are important quality factors, presenting food manufacturers with the dilemma of reconciling low fat content and applicability with good taste and appealing appearance. Functional foods offer an approach to address this challenge. Deeper insights into nutrient-gene interactions may enable personalized nutrition adapted to the special needs of individuals. However, so far, a varied healthy diet remains the best basis for health and well-being.

FASHIONING HEALTH PARADOXES FOR THE RISE OF FUNCTIONAL FOODS

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 136-137
Author(s):  
Jenny Young ◽  
◽  
Denise Conroy ◽  
Sara Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
Functional Foods
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