Focusing on the complexity of the food digestion process from oral cavity to intestine, this book looks at the anatomical intricacies of the digestive system, techniques currently used to study food digestibility, the glycemic index and bioavailability of food components. It also provides a detailed understanding of various modification techniques critical to any food product development, such as modification of food structure, its composition, and size. Being the first of its kind to provide an in-depth idea of various stages of food digestion, whilst linking it with approaches in modifying foods so as to cater to specific food or functional requirements, the book provides an integrated approach. Existing methods to understand the process of food digestion and advances in artificial systems that have been used for such studies are presented, substantiated with findings from scientific publications. Apart from readers from the field of medicine, this book is highly inter-disciplinary and will attract readers from food science, nutrition and food physics.

Focusing on the complexity of the food digestion process from oral cavity to intestine, this book looks at the digestive system, techniques used to study food digestibility, the glycemic index and bioavailability of food components for readers from the field of medicine, food scientists, nutritionists and food physicists.

For the first time, this singular and comprehensive text presents a focus on quantitative studies aiming to describe food digestion and the tools that are available for quantification. A case study relevant to real-world applications places this theoretical knowledge in context and demonstrates the different ways digestion studies can be used to develop food products. Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food Digestion undertakes a multidisciplinary approach to food digestion studies, placing them in context and presenting relevant phenomena plus the challenges and limitations of different approaches. This book presents a unique, useful reference work to scientists, students, and researchers in the area of food science, engineering, and nutrition. Over the last two decades there has been an increasing demand for foods that deliver specific nutritional values. In addition, the dramatic increase of food related diseases such as obesity requires the development of novel food products that control satiety and glycemic response. Overall, digestion studies are gaining increasing attention in recent years, especially as the link between diet and health/well-being becomes more evident. However, digestion is a complex process involving a wide range of disciplines such as medicine, nutrition, chemistry, materials science, and engineering. While a significant body of work exists within each discipline, there is a lack of a multidisciplinary approach on the topic which will provide a holistic view of the process. With Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food Digestion, researchers are finally presented with this much needed approach.

Large amounts of money, time and effort are devoted to sensory and consumer research in food and beverage companies in an attempt to maximize the chances of new products succeeding in the marketplace. Many new products fail due to lack of consumer interest. Answers to what causes this and what can be done about it are complex and remain unclear. This wide-ranging reference collates important information about all aspects of this in one volume for the first time. It provides comprehensive, state-of-art coverage of essential concepts, methods and applications related to the study of consumer evaluation, acceptance and adoption of new foods and beverages. Combining knowledge and expertise from multiple disciplines that study food sensory evaluation and consumer behaviour, it covers advanced methods including analytical, instrumental and human characterization of flavour, aspects of food processing and special research applications of knowledge and methods related to consumers’ evaluation of new food products. Researchers and professionals working in food science and chemistry are sure to find this an interesting read.

“Infogest” (Improving Health Properties of Food by Sharing our Knowledge on the Digestive Process) is an EU COST action/network in the domain of Food and Agriculture that will last for 4 years from April 4, 2011. Infogest aims at building an open international network of institutes undertaking multidisciplinary basic research on food digestion gathering scientists from different origins (food scientists, gut physiologists, nutritionists...). The network gathers 70 partners from academia, corresponding to a total of 29 countries. The three main scientific goals are: Identify the beneficial food components released in the gut during digestion; Support the effect of beneficial food components on human health; Promote harmonization of currently used digestion models Infogest meetings highlighted the need for a publication that would provide researchers with an insight into the advantages and disadvantages associated with the use of respective in vitro and ex vivo assays to evaluate the effects of foods and food bioactives on health. Such assays are particularly important in situations where a large number of foods/bioactives need to be screened rapidly and in a cost effective manner in order to ultimately identify lead foods/bioactives that can be the subject of in vivo assays. The book is an asset to researchers wishing to study the health benefits of their foods and food bioactives of interest and highlights which in vitro/ex vivo assays are of greatest relevance to their goals, what sort of outputs/data can be generated and, as noted above, highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the various assays. It is also an important resource for undergraduate students in the ‘food and health’ arena.

This singular text aims to strengthen the scientific understanding of food product design and engineering, and to stimulate and accelerate the development of innovative, complex and highly structured products and suitable production processes. By gathering an interdisciplinary team of scientists from the research areas of food engineering, biophysics, applied soft matter, food technology and applied human nutrition, this book contributes to an integrated process and product design approach for creating innovative, multi-phase structured foods delivering functionality. Delivering functionality in foods: from structure design to product engineering serves as an important reference for food engineers, food technologists and nutritionists, covering all aspects of the design of food structures and their application in the development of functional food products. From the delivery of health-related functionalities to process and product engineering for delivery of multiple food properties, this work provides a comprehensive overview of the knowledge, processes and technologies required for the design of functional foods.

Today's rapidly evolving consumer frequently changes eating habits, tastes, and diet. Therefore, to secure financial solvency, food and beverage companies must continually define, develop, and market new products. This comprehensive volume integrates all aspects of the physical food and beverage product development cycle and provides perspectives on how to optimize each component of the new product equation in the food industry. It discusses both the technical and the marketing sides, emphasizing the necessity for a combined focus of both the product/process and the people/market. The inclusion of case studies makes the book suitable for a classroom text or a professional reference.