Functional foods vitamins

Besides water, the diet must provide metabolic fuels (mainly carbohydrates and lipids), protein (for growth and turnover of tissue proteins), fiber (for roughage), minerals (elements with specific metabolic functions), and vitamins and essential fatty acids (organic compounds needed in small amounts for essential metabolic and physiologic functions). The polysaccharides, tri-acylglycerols, and proteins that make up the bulk of the diet must be hydrolyzed to their constituent monosaccharides, fatty acids, and amino acids, respectively, before absorption and utilization. Minerals and vitamins must be released from the complex matrix of food before they can be absorbed and utifized. 

Vitamin C occurs as L-ascorbic acid and dihydroascorbic acid in fruits, vegetables and potatoes, as well as in processed foods to which it has been added as an antioxidant. The only wholly undisputed function of vitamin C is the prevention of scurvy. Although this is the physiological rationale for the currently recommended intake levels, there is growing evidence that vitamin C may provide additional protective effects against other diseases including cancer, and the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) may be increased in the near future. Scurvy develops in adults whose habitual intake of vitamin C falls below 1 mg/d, and under experimental conditions 10 mg/d is sufficient to prevent or alleviate symptoms (Bartley et al., 1953). The RDA is 60 mg per day in the USA, but plasma levels of ascorbate do not achieve saturation until daily intakes reach around 100 mg (Bates et al., 1979). Most of the ascorbate in human diets is derived from natural sources, and consumers who eat five portions, or about 400-500 g, of fruits and vegetables per day could obtain as much as 200 mg of ascorbate. 

With investigations of phytochemicals and functional foods, the outcome measure is generally going to be a biomarker of disease, such as serum cholesterol level as a marker of heart disease risk, or indicators of bone turnover as markers of osteoporosis risk. Alternatively, markers of exposure may also indicate the benefit from a functional food by demonstrating bioavailability, such as increased serum levels of vitamins or carotenoids. Some components will be measurable in both ways. For instance, effects of a folic acid-fortified food could be measured via decrease in plasma homocysteine levels, or increase in red blood cell folate. 

SRB contains high-quality protein, oil, dietary fiber, polysaccharides, fat-soluble phytochemicals (plant derived bioactive compounds) and other bran nutrients. Rice bran and germ are the richest natural sources of B complex vitamins as well as E vitamins, polyphenols, several antioxidants and minerals. It is now available in the commercial food ingredient market as a safe and effective functional food and dietary supplement. 

In the Unites States, the daily intake of 3-carotene is around 2 mg/day Several epidemiological studies have reported that consumption of carotenoid-rich foods is associated with reduced risks of certain chronic diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and age-related macular degeneration. These preventive effects of carotenoids may be related to their major function as vitamin A precursors and/or their actions as antioxidants, modulators of the immune response, and inducers of gap-junction communications. Not all carotenoids exert similar protective effects against specific diseases. By reason of the potential use of carotenoids as natural food colorants and/or for their health-promoting effects, research has focused on better understanding how they are absorbed by and metabolized in the human body. 

In the stomach, carotenoids are exposed to acid environments. This can lead to carotenoid isomerization, which can change carotenoid antioxidant properties, solubility, and absorption. In humans, (3-carotene absorption is reduced when the pH of the gastric fluids is below 4.5 (Tang and others 1995). Vitamin E consumption seems to reduce carotenoid absorption in animals, presumably because vitamin E and carotenoids compete for absorption (Furr and Clark 1997). Dietary sterols, such as those in sterol-supplemented functional foods, are also known to decrease carotenoid absorption. 

A marine nutraceutical is defined as a marine-derived substance that can be used as a dietary supplement or a food ingredient that provides a medicinal or health benefit beyond basic nutrition [Barrow, C.. and F. Shahidi (2008). Marine Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. CRC Press. 494 pp.] Cosmoceuticals are cosmetic products with drug-like benefits conferred by ingredients such as vitamins, phytochemicals, enzymes, antioxidants, and essential oils. 

The name vitamin B12 indicates a group of cobalt-containing corrinoids, also described as cobala-mins. Hydroxycobalamin (HOCbl), adenosylcobalamin (AdoCbl), and methylcobalamin (MeCbl) are the natural occurring forms. Instead, cyanocobalamin (Figure 19.20) is the commercially available form used for supplements and food fortification, thanks to its greater relative stability. Occasionally, sulfitocobalmin can occur in processed foods. Vitamin B,2 functions as a coenzyme and it is linked to human growth, cell development, and is involved in metabolism of certain amino acids. Vitamin B12 is present mainly in meat and diary foods, therefore a deficiency can occur in... 

L-Tetrahydrofolic acid is a versatile intermediate for the manufacture of various folates, e.g., L-leucovorin [19], which is used in cancer therapy, or Metafolin , which is used as a vitamin in functional food. To our knowledge optically pure L-tetrahydrofolic acid is still obtained by repeated fractional crystallization from an equimolar mixture of diastereoisomers formed by nondiastereoselective hydrogenation of folic acid. In order to increase the yield of l-tetrahydrofolic acid and to avoid recrystallization steps, we checked the utility of our ligand for the diastereoselective hydrogenation of folic acid dimethyl ester benzenesulfonate (Scheme 1.4.4). 

A particular advantage of the compacted granules is the flexibility of the particle size. Each size between 0.5 and 5.0 mm is adjustable. A further advantage is shaped particles, colour and a combination of spray-dried flavour and additives (vitamins, minerals, functional food ingredients) can be combined in the granulated matrix. 

There have been continuous search for new substances that can improve biological functions and possibility of applying these compounds to promote well-being of human. This has resulted in development of products such as vitamins, dietary supplements, functional foods, nutraceuticals, phytochemicals, bio-chemopreventatives, and designer foods (Zeisel,... 

Little data is available on the interaction of protein modification for improved functionality and vitamin bioavailability from modified food-stuffs. Some water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins are protein-bound in their transport, storage and/or active forms. Therefore, methods used to cause dramatic alteration of protein conformation or chemical structure can be assumed to alter some vitamins as well. 

FUNK, CAS1M.IR 11884-1948). Bom in Poland and later becoming an American citizen. Funk in 1911 isolated a food factor, extracted from rice hulls, that he found to he a cure for a disease caused bv malnutrition (beriberi). Believing this to be an amine compound essential to life, he coined the name vilamine, from which the final e was later dropped. The various Ivpcs and functions of vitamins were not differentiated until some years later as a result of the work of McCollum, Szent-Gyorgi, R.J. Williams, and others. 

A functional food is one that offers a benefit over and above its nutritional value. Our body needs an intake of six essential dietary components in order to sustain life and regenerate cells they are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. Many meals provide most or all of them. A functional food has to offer something extra and not just more of one of these essential components, and it must actively promote the health of those who consume it. Merely fortifying a food with calcium or vitamin C does not turn it into a functional food. Most breakfast cereals have added iron, and adding more iron in the form of iron powder to make Kellogg s Special K does not make this a functional breakfast cereal. 

Vitamin E is widespread in foods and is stored in the body so that deficiency states are very rare. A possible exception may be premature infants with very low fat stores. The concentration of a-tocopherol in cows milk ranges from 3.0 to 5.0 mg/L and is present at about the same level in human milk. While vitamin E has been shown to be essential for normal fertility in rats and other animals, it has never been proven to be necessary for human fertility. However, in recent years there has been renewed interest in the antioxidant function of vitamin E [e.g., in protecting the cardiovascular system (Sytkowski et al., 1990 Gurr, 1994)]. 

The range of food components now considered as bioactives include vitamins, minerals, functional lipids, probiotics, amino acids, peptides and proteins, phytosterols, phytochemicals and antioxidants (Wildman 2001). Their structure and function vary widely and are important considerations when adding them to food. The health aspects of bioactive ingredients and functional foods are not covered here as they are beyond the scope of this chapter. 

The demand for healthy foods has led to the development of several entirely new healthy ingredient and additive categories (Heasman and Mellentin 2001 Sloan 2004). An entirely new sector of functional food ingredients has developed, including products such as omega-3 fatty acids and phytosterols for cardiovascular health, prebiotics and probiotics for gut health, antioxidants, polyphenols and phytochemicals, and bioactive peptides. The established vitamins and minerals sector has also benefited from this functional food trend, with more and more products being fortified with beneficial vitamins and minerals. 

Soybean tocopherols are the major source of natural fat-soluble antioxidants and Vitamin E. The Vitamin E activity of natural d-cx-tocopherol is much greater that that of synthetic Vitamin E, which is a mixture of eight stereoisomers (203). Phytosterols are used as raw materials for over 75% of the world s steroid production. The more recent application of phytosterol, phytostanol, and their fatty acid esters in margarine and table spreads is based on the blood cholesterol-lowering effect of these compounds (204,205). The recent development of functional foods containing phytosterols has been reviewed by Hollingsworth (206) and Hicks and Moreau (207). 

Foods may contain precursors of vitamin D as well as vitamin D. The precursors are converted to the vitamin following their absorption from the diet. T c body is a source of one of the precursors, 7-dehydnocholesteroL Conversion of the precursor to the vitamin form occurs in the skin. The major function of vitamin D is to maintain the concentration of calcium ions in the plasma. Maintenance of these concentrations is vital for normal functioning of the nervous system and for the growth of bones and the maintenance of bone mass. Although vitamin D is closely associated with bone growth, it is thought that the relationship is only indirect. T he vitamin stimulates the absorption of dietary calcium by the gut, but it seems not to stimulate the subsequent deposit of calcium in the bone. 

Two other broad terms that are used quite frequently are nutraceuticals and dietary supplements. Nutraceuticals include food, dietary supplements, and medical or functional foods that have a health or medical benefit including the prevention or treatment of disease. The newest term, introduced by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) is dietary supplement. A dietary supplement is neither a food nor a drug, according to the FDA. This term encompasses vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and any other dietary substance for use by humans to supplement the diet and promote health. 

Steiner, M. 1993. Vitamin E More Than an Antioxidant. Clin. Cardiol. 16 116-118. Stephen, A.M. 1998. Regulatory Aspects of Functional Products, in Functional Foods— Biochemical Processing Aspects. Mazza, G. (ed.) Lancaster, PA Technomic Publishing Co., Inc., pp. 403-437. 

Modern functional foods became available in the 1920s, when iodine was added to salt to prevent goiter. This was followed by vitamin D milk. Today, many Americans start their day with calcium-fortified orange juice (to strengthen their bones). Then, they spread a margarine that lowers cholesterol on folate-enriched toast (to protect their hearts and prevent birth defects). 

Structure/function claims state that a product may affect the structure or function of the body (e.g., calcium builds strong bones, antioxidants maintain cell integrity, fiber maintains bowel regularity), but may not claim that a therapy can prevent or cure a disease (e.g., alleviates constipation). Traditional nutrients refers to vitamins and minerals considered essential to the diet and/or to correct a classical nutritional deficiency disease. For example, foods containing vitamin C to correct scurvy or vitamin D to alleviate rickets are not functional foods. However, soy, w hich contains soy protein and is associated with a reduced cardiovascular risk, is a functional food. 

Lachance, P.A. 2000. Food fortification with vitamin and mineral nutraceuticals In Essentials of Functional Foods (M.K. Schmidl and T.P. Labuza, eds), pp. 293-302. Aspen Publishers, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD. 

A few years ago, industry started the age of engineered functional food. Numerous examples such as the generation of golden rice, the production of healthy plant oils, and engineered plants with increased levels of essential vitamins and nutrients [112] have been published (Table 2). Golden rice was engineered with two... 

---