Food & Function Blog

Food & Function Volume 3, Issue 1 is now online, this issue is completely free to access (upon registration).  You can keep up to date with the latest developments from Food & Function by signing up for free table of contents alerts and our monthly e-newsletter ‘food for thought’.

The front cover of this issue presents a review article from Uri Lesmes and co-workers at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, ‘Development of oral food-grade delivery systems: Current knowledge and future challenges’. There has, in recent years, been an increasing interest in the development of new and efficient oral food delivery systems as tools to prevent disease and promote human health and well-being, and although considered to be still in its infancy, this promising field of research is likely to infiltrate into real products through rational design. In order for such efforts to materialize into real products some challenges still need to be met and are discussed in this review which summarises the key concepts of food delivery systems, their characterization and their evaluation. In particular, evaluation of their performance within the human gastrointestinal tract is discussed.

Read the full article by clicking on the title below and read the full issue here:

Development of oral food-grade delivery systems: Current knowledge and future challenges
Revital Cohen Benshitrit, Carmit Shani Levi, Sharon Levi Tal, Eyal Shimoni and Uri Lesmes
Food Funct., 2012, 3, 10-21 DOI: 10.1039/C1FO10068H

Free online access to Food & Function will finish at the end of 2011, but there is still time to take a look at all the articles we’ve published so far free of charge.

Don’t know where to start?  Why not take a look at some of the top accessed articles over the last year:

Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake: potential health implications
Thomas W. M. Crozier, Angelique Stalmach, Michael E. J. Lean and Alan Crozier
Food Funct., 2012, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C1FO10240K

Anti-inflammatory activity of natural dietary flavonoids
Min-Hsiung Pan, Ching-Shu Lai and Chi-Tang Ho
Food Funct., 2010, 1, 15-31, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00103A

Transcription profiles of LPS-stimulated THP-1 monocytes and macrophages: a tool to study inflammation modulating effects of food-derived compounds
Wasaporn Chanput, Jurriaan Mes, Robert A. M. Vreeburg, Huub F. J. Savelkoul and Harry J. Wichers
Food Funct., 2010, 1, 254-261, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00113A

Review of in vitro digestion models for rapid screening of emulsion-based systems
David Julian McClements and Yan Li
Food Funct., 2010, 1, 32-59, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00111B

Bioactive peptides derived from milk proteins and their health beneficial potentials: an update
Ravinder Nagpal, Pradip Behare, Rajiv Rana, Ashwani Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Sanu Arora, Fransesco Morotta, Shalini Jain and Hariom Yadav
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 18-27, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00016G

Inhibition of advanced glycation endproduct formation by foodstuffs
Chi-Hao Wu, Shang-Ming Huang, Jer-An Lin and Gow-Chin Yen
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 224-234, DOI: 10.1039/C1FO10026B

Safety assessment of plant food supplements (PFS)
Suzanne J. P. L. van den Berg, Lluis Serra-Majem, Patrick Coppens and Ivonne M. C. M. Rietjens
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 760-768, DOI: 10.1039/C1FO10067J

Conjugated quercetin glucuronides as bioactive metabolites and precursors of aglycone in vivo
Junji Terao, Kaeko Murota and Yoshichika Kawai
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 11-17, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00106F

Expression of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway genes and changes in carotenoids during ripening in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum)
Kanakapura Krishnamurthy Namitha, Surya Narayana Archana and Pradeep Singh Negi
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 168-173, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00169D

Red wine: A source of potent ligands for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ
Alfred Zoechling, Falk Liebner and Alois Jungbauer
Food Funct., 2011, 2, 28-38, DOI: 10.1039/C0FO00086H

If you would like to continue to receive access to Food & Function in 2012 please contact our sales team and ask for a quote.

You can keep up to date with the latest articles and developments from Food & Function by signing up for free table of contents alerts and e-newsletters. Additionally, why not consider submitting your next manuscript to the journal?

Food & Function issue 11 is now online and features some exciting new contributions to the field. The front cover highlights an article from Yael Vodovotz and co-workers from Ohio, USA. Their study demonstrates that the addition of soy ingredients to a soft pretzel significantly decreased the glycemic index while maintaining acceptability and satiety. The consumption of nutrient-poor snack foods in western diets is thought to be contributing to the increasing prevalence of obesity and diabetes. The results from this study show that soy offers the potential to produce a more healthful nutritional profile to snack foods. To find out more read the full article ‘A comparison of satiety, glycemic index, and insulinemic index of wheat-derived soft pretzels with or without soy’.

The inside front cover highlights a review article from Luis Videla and Rodrigo Valenzuela from Chile on the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver associated with obesity. NAFLD is the most important cause of chronic liver disease; the mechanisms underlying hepatic steatosis in obese NAFLD patients are multifactorial and are beginning to be understood. This review addresses the decrease in the n-6/n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio as a factor playing a significant role in the prevention and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). To find ou more read the full article ‘The importance of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid n-6/n-3 ratio in development of non-alcoholic fatty liver associated with obesity’.

Remember that all content in Food & Function is free for all to access until the end of 2011. Read issue 11 and access all content online here.

Food & Function issue 10 is now online. The front cover features an image of lowbush blueberries representing work by Xianli Wu and co-workers from Arkansas, US. 

The study, recently highlighted on this blog, investigates the mechanisms by which lowbush blueberries exert their cardioprotective effects.  It is revealed that blueberries inhibited expression of CD36 and SR-A in macrophages of apoE^−/− mice, through down-regulating PPARγ and reducing its endogenous ligands. 

To find out more read the full article ‘Lowbush blueberries inhibit scavenger receptors CD36 and SR-A expression and attenuate foam cell formation in ApoE-deficient mice‘.

Read Food & Function issue 10 online here.

Food & Function issue 9 is now online.  The front cover represents work from Ashok K. Tiwari and co-workers from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR) in Hyderabad.  Their article ‘Influence of antioxidant rich fresh vegetable juices on starch induced postprandial hyperglycemia in rats’ analyses the major chemical components and multiple antioxidant activities present in the fresh juice of eight vegetables and looks at their influence on starch induced postprandial glycemia in rats.  They find that high polyphenol content in vegetable juice adversely affects the postprandial antihyperglycemic activity of vegetable juices.  To find out more read the full article for free here.

The inside cover highlights the review ‘Natural salicylates: foods, functions and disease prevention’.  Regular intakes of Aspirin™ decrease the risk of developing several diseases therefore it is thought that salicylates in foods may similarly benefit health. In this review Garry Duthie and Adrian Wood from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland review the evidence.  Read the full article for free here.