Health Promoting Foods

Objectives

Define what a bioactive component is

Define the functional health benefits of common food commodities

Relate the bioactivity of key components in functional foods to certain health benefits

Develop a critical attitude towards messages relating to functional foods and health claims

Know the relevant regulatory bodies

Foster research skills in the area

Program

Introduction to Functional Foods – topics of interest. Defining Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Supplements.

Lipids as Functional Foods: omega-3 and conjugated fatty acids. Influence of ruminant diet on milk fatty acid profiles. Status of these constituents in the face of the present regulations.

Functional dairy foods and health. Bioactive constituents in dairy products. Bioactive functionalities associated with dairy products and their constituents. Legal aspects. Novel technologies.

Microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract and its impact on health.Prebiotics, probiotics and symbiotics.

Regulamentory bodies.

Natural antioxidants and phytochemicals. Oxidative stress. Free radicals. Defense mechanisms. Phytochemicals.

Foods that are rich in different phytochemicals (wines, tea, coffee, chocolate, legumes).

Foods exhibiting immunoregulatory activity.

Advanced research in Functional Foods.

Teaching Methodologies

Basic concepts are given in classical lectures (10h) and further extended in guided literature research and discussion sessions (13h).

Bibliography

Cho SS & Finocchiaro ET (Editors). 2010. Handbook of Prebiotics and Probiotics Ingredients. Health Benefits and Food Applications. 2nd Ed. CRC Press, Florida, USA

Charalampopoulos D & Rastall RA. Prebiotics and Probiotics. Science and Technology. 2009. Springer, New York, USA

Food Fermentation and Microorganisms. Bamforth, 2005. Blackwell, UK.

Bioactive Components in Milk and Dairy Products. Park (ed.), 2009. Willey-Blackwell, USA

Advances in Conjugated Linoleic Acid Research. (Yaroucez et al, Eds.), 1999. AOCS Press.Vol. I

Antioxidants in Food: Practical Applications. (Pokorny et al. Eds.), 2001. CRC, USA

Dairy Processing Handbook of da Alfa-Laval/Tetra Pak: Walstra, P., Geurts, T. J., Noomen, A., Jellema, A. e van Boekel, M. A. J. S. (2004-2005).

Manual de Industrias Lácteas. Tetra Pak Processing Systems AB, Lund, Suécia (2005)