Enhanced concern for the quality and safety of food products, increased preference for natural products, and stricter regulations on the residual level of solvents, all contribute to the growing use of supercritical fluid technology as a primary alternative for the extraction, fractionation, and isolation of active ingredients. As a solvent-free p

Natural Bioactive Compounds: Technological Advancements deals with the latest breakthroughs in the field of screening, characterization and novel applications of natural bioactive compounds from diverse group of organisms ranging from bacteria, viruses, cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, bryophytes, higher plants, sponges, corals and fishes. Written by some of the most reputed scientists in the field, this book introduces the reader to strategies and methods in the search for bioactive natural products. It is an essential read for researchers and students interested in bioactive natural products, their biological and pharmacological properties, their possible use as chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents, and other future potential applications. - Explores natural sources of bioactive compounds, including cyanobacteria, bacteria, viruses, fungi and higher plants - Discusses the potential applications of biological products, such as their use in medicine (antibiotics, cancer research, immunology), as food additives, supplements and technological substances - Analyzes the contributions of emerging or developing technologies for the study of bioactive natural compounds (characterization and purification)

A growing awareness of the contributions that functional foods, bioactive compounds, and nutraceuticals make to health is creating a tremendous market for these products. In order for manufacturers to match this demand with stable, high volume production while maintaining defined and reliable composition, they must have ready access to the very lat

The demand for functional foods and neutraceuticals is on the rise, leaving product development companies racing to improve bioactive compound extraction methods - a key component of functional foods and neutraceuticals development. From established processes such as steam distillation to emerging techniques like supercritical fluid technology, Ext

Separation, extraction and concentration are essential processes in the preparation of key food ingredients. They play a vital role in the quality optimization of common foods and beverages and there is also increasing interest in their use for the production of high-value compounds, such as bioactive peptides from milk and whey, and the recovery of co-products from food processing wastes.Part one describes the latest advances in separation, extraction and concentration techniques, including supercritical fluid extraction, process chromatography and membrane technologies. It also reviews emerging techniques of particular interest, such as pervaporation and pressurised liquid extraction. Part two then focuses on advances in separation technologies and their applications in various sectors of the food, beverage and nutraceutical industries. Areas covered include dairy and egg processing, oilseed extraction, and brewing. This section discusses the characteristics of different foods and fluids, how food constituents are affected by separation processes and how separation processes can be designed and operated to optimize end product quality.With its team of experienced international contributors, Separation, extraction and concentration processes in the food, beverage and nutraceutical industries is an important reference source for professionals concerned with the development and optimisation of these processes. - Describes the latest advances in separation, extraction and concentration techniques and their applications in various sectors of the food, beverage and nutraceutical industries - Reviews emerging techniques of particular interest, such as pervaporation and pressurised liquid extraction - Explores the characteristics of different foods and fluids and how food constituents are affected by separation processes

With increasing energy prices and the drive to reduce CO2 emissions, food industries are challenged to find new technologies in order to reduce energy consumption, to meet legal requirements on emissions, product/process safety and control, and for cost reduction and increased quality as well as functionality. Extraction is one of the promising innovation themes that could contribute to sustainable growth in the chemical and food industries. For example, existing extraction technologies have considerable technological and scientific bottlenecks to overcome, such as often requiring up to 50% of investments in a new plant and more than 70% of total process energy used in food, fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries. These shortcomings have led to the consideration of the use of new "green" techniques in extraction, which typically use less solvent and energy, such as microwave extraction. Extraction under extreme or non-classical conditions is currently a dynamically developing area in applied research and industry. Using microwaves, extraction and distillation can now be completed in minutes instead of hours with high reproducibility, reducing the consumption of solvent, simplifying manipulation and work-up, giving higher purity of the final product, eliminating post-treatment of waste water and consuming only a fraction of the energy normally needed for a conventional extraction method. Several classes of compounds such as essential oils, aromas, anti-oxidants, pigments, colours, fats and oils, carbohydrates, and other bioactive compounds have been extracted efficiently from a variety of matrices (mainly animal tissues, food, and plant materials). The advantages of using microwave energy, which is a non-contact heat source, includes more effective heating, faster energy transfer, reduced thermal gradients, selective heating, reduced equipment size, faster response to process heating control, faster start-up, increased production, and elimination of process steps. This book will present a complete picture of the current knowledge on microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of bioactive compounds from food and natural products. It will provide the necessary theoretical background and details about extraction by microwaves, including information on the technique, the mechanism, protocols, industrial applications, safety precautions, and environmental impacts.

Natural products are sought after by the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, and research continues into their potential for new applications. Extraction of natural products in an economic and environmentally-friendly way is of high importance to all industries involved. This book presents a holistic and in-depth view of the techniques available for extracting natural products, with modern and more environmentally-benign methods, such as ultrasound and supercritical fluids discussed alongside conventional methods. Examples and case studies are presented, along with the decision-making process needed to determine the most appropriate method. Where appropriate, scale-up and process integration is discussed. Relevant to researchers in academia and industry, and students aiming for either career path, Natural Product Extraction presents a handy digest of the current trends and latest developments in the field with concepts of Green Chemistry in mind.