Functional Foods

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 9781119775560

Cover image: Pixabay.com

Cover design by Russell Richardson

Set in size of 11pt and Minion Pro by Manila Typesetting Company, Makati, Philippines

Printed in the USA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The saying: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” was embraced 2500 years ago by Hippocrates. In 21 stcentury, more of research reports advocated the importance of healthy diet for health promotion as well as disease prevention and treatment. For human health the functional foods and beverage remain of the utmost importance to growers, researchers, processors and manufacturers of natural substances, bakers, confectioners, dairy product manufacturers, brewers, and ultimately, the consumers. Regardless of energy and nutritional characteristics, numerous health benefits of functional foods are likely to be single major asset of food processing companies. New packaging materials and techniques are being developed to provide more protection to functional foods. Simultaneously, improving food quality and food safety are continue to be critical issues in functional food development and manufacturing.

Against this backdrop, this book encompasses on functional food from different sources across the globe to present latest knowledge on these, for the enhanced appreciation of this topic. A great variety of topics was covered, with the emphasis on the most recent development in functional foods. The chapters presented in this volume throw light on a number of research subjects that have provided critical information on manufacturing of functional foods, their ingredients from different sources, health benefits and their feasibility in food industry. Each chapter also provides background information of the functional food, nutrition, bioactive compounds, health benefits of functional foods and a wealth of useful references that should prove to be an invaluable source for the reader. Self-explanatory illustrations and tables have been incorporated in each chapter complimentary to the main text.

Thanks are due to all authors who contributed in this volume for contributing their knowledgeable chapters and helping us to complete the book. We also thank the authorities of Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar and Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology for their support. Finally, we also express indebtedness and thankfulness to Scrivener Publishing and Wiley team for their unfailing guidance and helpful assistance.

Navnidhi ChhikaraAnil PanghalGaurav Chaudhary

Navnidhi Chhikara1 and Anil Panghal2*

1Department of Food Technology, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, India

2AICRP-PHET, Department of Food Processing & Engineering, Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India

Abstract

The consumer demand has switched to food choices which besides supplying the basic nutrients also contribute towards betterment of health. Functional foods can be conventional, modified or may contain any functional ingredient. Functional foods include a huge range of foods like whole foods along with fortified, enriched or enhanced foods, probiotics and designer foods. Functional foods protect from numerous lifestyle generated disease as well as promote the growth and development. The demand and market growth of functional foods is controlled by socio-demographic characteristics, awareness, knowledge of nutritional advantages and health claims, labeling and attitude of consumers. The smart, health conscious consumer is demanding for functional foods for their overall health and wellbeing. In the current scenario, the existing functional foods in today’s markets were designed to meet the needs for particular health conditions as evident by medical and nutritional experts. Consumers are more familiar with the functional foods and thus the functional foods are now accepted by the group of consumers whose interest is in following healthy food choice and dietary benefits. Researchers from the various fields of nutrition, pharmaceutical, microbiology, dairy sciences, medical sciences and food sciences are reporting their research findings on many interesting characteristics of food components in terms of their physiological functions. This chapter summarizes the different findings from multidisciplinary fields and role of regulatory bodies for law and regulations of functional foods.

Keywords :Probiotics, bioactive compounds, nutraceuticals, supplements

The saying: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” was embraced 2500 years ago by Hippocrates. In 21 stcentury, more of research reports advocated the importance of healthy diet for health promotion as well as disease prevention and also treatment. This further focused on the identification and characterization of biologically active compounds from different food substrates and their contribution to various health benefits. The new sources of these compounds have been explored to meet the increasing demands. The increased awareness about health and income of the consumer has forced the researchers and industries to come up with good quality food products, which are known as: “Functional foods.”

The term ‘functional food’ was coined in Japan in the early 1980s. Although there is no universal definition of functional food, a typical and simple definition is “processed foods having disease-preventing and/or health-promoting benefits in addition to their nutritive value.” Functional foods overlap with nutraceuticals, medical foods, probiotics, designer foods, pharma-foods, and vita foods. Japan is also the first country to have formulated a specific regulatory approval process for functional foods. In 1991, the concept of foods for specified health use (FOSHU) was established [1]. Functional food might be containing one or more specific functional ingredients or be completely a natural food that promotes positively to health and well being. Importantly, functional foods do not necessarily induce a health benefit in all members of the population.

The demand for functional foods is exponentially increasing at a CAGR of 7.9% and is expected to reach USD 275.77 billion by the year 2025 as per survey report by Grand View Research, Inc. The functional food market is mainly led by developed countries like United States, Japan, Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain. The world’s largest market for the functional foods is occupied by United States ($60 billion in 2017), and steady increase of 8% per year is mainly due to demand for health drinks and dairy products [2]. The main category of functional food is dairy products (49%) followed by cereal products (30%) in European countries, whereas in United states and Japan, market is occupied by drinks (60%), cereal products (20% in US) and confectionery products (15% in Japan) [3]. Besides this there is intense demand for natural and functional additives and for health food that is also favoring this market growth. Asia Pacific has emerged as a growing market for functional foods due to a significant increase in income status and health awareness. The consumption and preference for the functional food is controlled by numerous factors like age, gender, income, health status, knowledge and availability etc. [4, 5]. The food like low fat/skimmed milk, cereals, fruit juice, and probiotics are preferred by all age groups; on the contrary, cholesterol lowering and soy based products are predominantly consumed by adults and old age people. The health issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, and diabetes has led to market for cholesterol lowering foods. Instead of relying only on medication to treat diseases, functional food products are approach to deal with symptoms and disease. Different types of functional foods are commercially available in global market ( Table 1.1). However, with huge opportunities, the functional food industry also has its share of challenges like product availability; health claims and cost are limiting the growth of functional food market.