Additional Physiological Properties

The possibility that drugs developed to protect against other mechanisms of tissue injury might have an additional physiological action because they have antioxidant properties. 

It must not be forgotten that the concept of pure substance, referred to earlier, is very rigorous and must take into account, not just the constitution and relative configuration of a molecule, but also the absolute configuration of each chiral center that may present. For example, again in relation to quinine (i), quinidine (2) is also known and the only difference between the two molecules is the disposition in space of the groups bonded to C(8). Nevertheless 2 is a different molecule and shows no antimalarial activity. In addition, only one enantiomer of quinine (1), the laevorotatory, corresponds to the natural compound and manifests the specific physiological properties associated with this substance. 

Oxynitrilases are enzymes that catalyze the formation and cleavage of cyanohydrins through the stereoselective addition of hydrogen cyanide to aldehydes or methyl ketones giving enantiopure a-hydroxynitriles. The use of (R)-oxynitrilases for the preparation of chiral cyanohydrins has dramatically grown in the last decade because of their possibihties as precursors for the synthesis of many compounds with physiological properties [50]. 

Lipids, unlike many excipients, whether present in food or as discreet pharmaceutical additives, are processed both chemically and physically within the GIT before absorption and transport into the portal blood (or mesenteric lymph). Indeed, most of the effects mediated by formulation-based lipids or the lipid content of food are mediated by means of the products of lipid digestion—molecules that may exhibit very different physicochemical and physiological properties when compared with the initial excipient or food constituent. Therefore, although administered lipids have formulation properties in their own right, many of their effects are mediated by species that are produced after transformation or activation in the GIT. An understanding of the luminal and/or enterocyte-based processing pathways of lipids and lipid systems is therefore critical to the effective design of lipid-based delivery systems. 

The Japanese Ministry of Health defines functional food as a processed food with ingredients that, in addition to their nutritional-physiological properties, serve to... 

To describe bio accumulation, physiological properties of the organism need to be included in addition to a chemical property, such as Ko . Furthermore, many chemicals are known to bioconcentrate to a lesser extent. There is some evidence that this reduced bioaccumulation is due to a size or shape cut-off effect in membrane permeation but an exact value is difficult to set. Other reasons for lower bioconcentration factors are related to biotransformation. It is not possible yet to apply discrete equations for these kind of deviating compounds. Other descriptors will have to be developed and applied that describe the underlying processes for the deviating behaviour. Parameters which relate the size of the molecule, and also parameters that represent differences in potency for biotransformation, will be important. 

It must be distinguished whether the effect of concern is acute or subacute. Then, for each class of chemicals and/or for each ecotoxicological effect, information is required on both bioaccumulation and ecotoxicological effects. Furthermore, it has also to be taken into account that, in addition to physical-chemical properties, physiological properties of the organism of interest and environmental conditions will also determine bio accumulation and possibly effects. 

Other organic fiber products which are mostly used in foods as dietary ballast additives are made from wheat, oats, tomato, apples, and citrus. Such dietary fibers are non-starch polysaccharides obtained from cell walls only, which can not be broken down by the digestive enzymes of the human organism and, therefore, constitute inert ballast materials. Color, taste, and odor relate to the fiber source. Unlike cereal brans or dietary fibers derived from, for example, sugar beets, which are often rejected by consumers because of their specific taste, wheat, oat, tomato, apple, and citrus fibers offer physiological properties that are much more readily accepted. 

Lipids form a group of compounds, the chemical nature of which is extremely varied. They have physical, chemical, and physiological properties that make them important both in nutrition and in food technology. Lipids make an important contribution to food characteristics, such as texture and palatability. In addition to fats ingested as food, there are specific lipids synthesized by the human body that are essential to life. 

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