Introduction

This book provides modern information on functional food components, including antioxidants, dietary fibers, prebiotics, plant sterols, bioactive peptides, flavonoids, and many other phytochemicals. This text presents some of the latest developments in nutrigenomics, molecular biology, epidemiology, as well as the production, marketing, and distribution of functional foods.

In this fifth edition of our textbook, our editorial board has streamlined and included additional information and resources in order to enhance the learning experience of our readers. These updates include detailed editing of articles, new figures, color tables, pictures, end of chapter summaries for each chapter, test questions with answer keys at the end of each chapter, and an updated glossary with new key words. We believe that this edition will help our readers to better understand the new material and concepts of functional food science.

Outline of the Fifth Edition

In Part 1, “Introduction,” define functional foods and delineates its categories. Additionally, it discusses biomarkers for functional foods and bioactive compounds, which always exist in functional foods. Part 1 also describes scientific standards for evaluating functional food claims: regulation, pre-clinical and clinical studies.

In Part 2, “Bioactive Food Compounds: Sources and Potential Health Benefits,” is devoted to examining different functional food components, such as: antioxidants, dietary fibers, prebiotics, plant sterols, phytochemicals, bioactive peptides, and flavonoids, and the relationships between different bioactive food components, and their health benefits. 

In Part 3, “Functional Foods and Chronic Diseases,” provides information on the use of functional foods and bioactive compounds to prevent and manage chronic and viral diseases, including coronaviruses. This section discusses a variety of herbal compounds that could be useful in the prevention and treatment of viral infections, in particular in light of the current pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Additionally, the use of functional foods in the treatment and management of metabolic syndrome is presented, and the use of omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of cancer.

Finally, Part 4, “Functional Foods: Philosophy, Evolution, Interactions,” presents the different approaches of Western and Eastern cultures to functional foods, and finally, food and drug interactions and safety precautions are covered.

**In order to get the most out of this edition, we recommend reading each chapter completely and to also review the summary paragraphs that conclude each chapter. These summaries lay out the main take-aways from the chapter and help to put the chapter as a whole into perspective.