Progress in Food Chemistry

Food chemistry is the study of chemical processes and interactions of all biological and non-biological components of foods. The biological substances include such items as meat, poultry, lettuce, beer, and milk as examples. It is similar to biochemistry in its main components such as carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, but it also includes areas such as water, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, food additives, flavours, and colours. This discipline also encompasses how products change under certain food processing techniques and ways either to enhance or to prevent them from happening. An example of enhancing a process would be to encourage fermentation of dairy products with lactic acid; an example of a preventing process would be stopping the Maillard reaction on the surface of freshly cut Red Delicious apples whether by hand or mechanical methods. This new book presents the latest selected research from around the world.