Description

The present book includes a brief historical perspective on food analysis, together with a deep revision on the current state of the art of modern analytical instruments, methodologies, and applications in food analysis. The book discusses the present and future challenges in food analysis, the application of "omics" in food analysis including epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, and provides an overview on the new discipline of Foodomics. Analysis of foods is continuously requesting the development of more robust, efficient, sensitive, and cost-effective analytical methodologies to guarantee the safety, quality, and traceability of foods in compliance with legislation and consumers' demands. The old methods used at the beginning of the 20th century based on the so-called "wet chemistry" have evolved into the current powerful instrumental techniques used in food laboratories. This improvement has led to significant enhancements in analytical accuracy, precision, detection limits, and sample throughput, thereby expanding the practical range of food applications. The growth and infrastructure of the modern global food distribution system heavily relies on food analysis beyond simple characterization as a tool for new product development, quality control, regulatory enforcement, and problem-solving. Besides, currently, there is also a huge interest in the health-related properties of foods as a result of an increasing public concern on how to improve health through the so-called functional foods, functional ingredients, and nutraceuticals. Thus, there is no doubt on the importance and current need of analytical techniques developments able to face all these demands. This book reviews methods of analysis and detection in the area of food science and technology. Chapters deal with determination/quantification analyses of quality parameters in food, covering topics such as lipids, color, texture, and rheological properties in different food products. The book focuses on the most common methods of analysis, presenting methodologies for specific work conditions. It provides a reference for food engineers and researchers working in the area of food science and technology as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students. It provides information on techniques needed to analyze foods for chemical and physical properties. The book is ideal for undergraduate courses in food analysis and it is also an invaluable reference for professionals in the food industry. General information chapters on regulations, labeling sampling, and data handling provide background information for specific methods to determine chemical composition and characteristics, physical properties, and constituents of concern.