Antioxidant-rich phytochemicals in plants and agricultural food products have become an attractive subject for food, biomedical and nutrition scientists, as well as for food producers. Unlike synthetic food antioxidants, antioxidants from natural sources are generally recognized as safe for food applications and most have been confirmed as having health-promoting functions in relation to various human epidemiological diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, obesity and diabetes. In addition to their antioxidant function, many phytochemicals have been found to alter cell signaling pathways and gene expression, and thus have the ability to regulate numerous physiological functions involved in the pathogenesis of various chronic diseases.
Natural antioxidant phytochemicals usually exist at a very low level, and differ from proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, which are macro-nutrients and abundant in food products. They are microconstituents in plants and agricultural and food products. Furthermore, the type and quantity of antioxidant phytochemicals vary significantly from source to source. Different types of antioxidants may have different antioxidant activity and bioavailablity. Although most antioxidants have UV absorption, using the traditional spectrophotometric method to quantify the antioxidants is not practical because they could be significantly masked or interfered with by many other compounds in the sources. Thus, the analysis methods for antioxidant phytochemicals are more complicated and sophisticated than those employed for macro-nutrient compounds.
This is the first book to focus on the sample preparation procedures and methods developed for identifying and quantifying natural antioxidants in plants and food products. The principle of quantification methods for natural antioxidant-rich phytochemicals is introduced, and current methods used in the determination of antioxidants in different sources are reviewed and summarized by experts in the field. As a handbook of analysis of natural antioxidant-rich phytochemicals, the volume provides practical information enabling researchers to identify the appropriate analysis methods for specific antioxidants. This book may also serve as a lecture resource for courses relating to food analysis, functional foods and nutrition.
