This book highlights the effects of food processing on the active ingredients of a wide range of functional food materials, with a particular focus on foods of Asian origin. Asian foods, particularly herbs, are becoming increasingly accepted and demanded globally, with many Western consumers starting to recognize and seek out their health-giving properties. This book focuses on the extraction of ingredients which from materials which in the West are seen as “alternative” – such as flour from soybeans instead of wheat, or bran and starch from rice – but which have long histories in Asian cultures. It also highlight the incorporation of those bioactive compounds in foods and the enhancement of their bioavailability.

Functional Foods and Dietary Supplements: Processing Effects and Health Benefits will be required reading for those working in companies, research institutions and universities that are active in the areas of food processing and agri-food environment. Food scientists and engineers will value the new data and research findings contained in the book, while environmentalists, food regulatory agencies and other food industry personnel involved in functional food production or development will find it a very useful source of information.

The focus in Part three is on understanding fruit and vegetable phytochemicals. Chapters cover physiological and ecological functions and biosynthesis of health-promoting compounds in fruit and vegetables, rapid analysis of phytochemicals in fruit and vegetables and clinical evidence for biological activity of fruit and vegetable phytochemicals.Part four chapters review the effect of pre- and post-harvest technologies on the health-promoting properties of fruit and vegetables. Topics covered include traditional breeding and modern processing techniques and their effect on fruit and vegetable phytochemicals; genetic manipulation of vegetable crops to alleviate diet-related diseases; agronomy and the nutritional quality of fruit; storage and handling of fruit and vegetables for optimal health-related quality and postharvest enhancement of bioactive compounds in fresh produce using abiotic stresses. The final chapters in Part five look at the nutritional quality of particular fruit and vegetable products, such as fresh-cut fruit and vegetables and organic fruit and vegetables.Improving the health-promoting properties of fruit and vegetable products is a valuable reference for those working in the fresh and processed fruit and vegetable sector of the food industry.