Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods

For centuries we have known that fruit is important for health, but we are only just beginning to fully
understand why.  Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods aims to summarise some of our current knowledge on the bioactive compounds that are associated with the health benefits of specific fruits with a strong emphasis on the validation of health benefits by human intervention trials. Reflecting the current interest in food and health, the book includes strategies to retain and enhance the bioactives in fruit through breeding, growing conditions, fruit storage, processing into ingredients and production of functional foods.

To accomplish this task authors with expertise in biology, chemistry, pharmacology, food science, nutrition, medicine, and horticulture have contributed. They come from universities, government and industry funded research institutes and biotechnology and food companies in Europe, the United States, Asia and New Zealand to give the book a broad perspective.

This book, describing fruit bioactives, their health benefits when consumed as a food and related topics regarding their development into fresh or processed functional foods, will be of use to postgraduate
students, researchers, functional food product developers, food regulators and anyone who has curiosity about why fruit is good for you.  The information contained within will provide plant breeders with new targets for the development of value-added horticultural products, and will also provide nutritionists and dieticians with a useful resource for developing strategies to assist in preventing or slowing disease onset or severity. Bioactives in Fruit: Health Benefits and Functional Foods is a major resource which will be required reading for anyone working in the fields of health and functional foods.

About the Editors

Margot Skinner is a Professor in Food Science, School of Chemical Sciences and Institute of Plant
and Food Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Denise Hunter is a Research Scientist in Food Innovation at Plant & Food Research Ltd,
Auckland, New Zealand.

Also available:

Handbook of Plant Food Phytochemicals: Sources, Stability and Extraction
Edited by B.K. Tiwari, N.P. Brunton and C.S. Brennan
ISBN 978-1-4443-3810-2

Dried Fruits: Phytochemicals and Health Effects
Edited by C. Alasalvar and F. Shahidi
ISBN 978-0-8138-1173-4

Handbook of Fruits and Fruit Processing, Second Edition
Edited by N.K. Sinha, J.S. Sidhu, J. Barta, J.S.B. Wu and M. Pilar Cano
ISBN 978-0-8138-0894-9