Research and Technological Advances in Food Science

The reduction in nutritional quality of food due to microbial contamination is a problem faced by much of the developing world. To address contamination-related hunger and malnutrition, it is crucial to enforce quantitative and qualitative protection of agri-food commodities after harvesting, as well as to create low cost, rational strategies to protect post-harvest losses and nutritional properties of food products in a sustainable manner.

Research and Technological Advances in Food Science provides readers with a systematic and in-depth understanding of basic and advanced concepts in food science and post-harvest technology, including the most up-to-date information about different natural food source sources (of microbial, plant, and animal origin) and their health benefits. It also highlights current research and technological advances in food science related to health, such as personalized food and nutrition, seafood nutraceuticals, meat processing and product development, microbial enzymes for the tenderization of meat, feruloylated oligosaccharides for human health, and the role of microbial antagonistic in post-harvest management of fruit. In addition, the book explores the role of modern tools and techniques such as instrumentation, nanotechnology, biotechnology, ultrasound in food processing and food-omics in food science.

Research and Technological Advances in Food Science is an excellent resource for researchers, food scientists, biochemists, pharmacologists, nutritionists, policymakers, and students working in the food science domain.

• Includes information about different natural sources of food (microbes, plants and animal origin), and their health benefits
• Highlights current research and technological advances in food science related to health
• Brings the role of microbial antagonistic, plant volatiles and technological advances in the post-harvest management of food commodities

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Nov 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9780323859172

Book preview

Preface

Bhanu Prakash

Food science is one of the important branches of science and technology that deals with the availability of safe and healthy food to consumers. The recent advancements in food science and technology can successfully address nutrient-deficiency-related diseases such as obesity, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and can ensure the availability and affordability of safe and healthy food to overcome hunger with improved health. The chapters in this book provide excellent coverage on recent advancements in food science. Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the journey of food from hunger satisfaction to health-promoting agents. It briefly discusses the role of food and its bioactive components in human health, associated challenges, and the role of modern science and technological approaches for the sustainable use of functional food and nutraceuticals. Chapter 2 deals with the role of personalized nutrition in promoting and maintaining physical health and in preventing diseases and discusses its impact on future food. Chapter 3 provides an overview of recent techniques related to advancements in meat processing, development of functional meat products, and meat analogues. Chapter 4 focuses on the application of microbial enzymes for meat tenderization and discusses the hurdles and progress made so far to overcome the existing limitations with future research direction. Chapter 5 discusses the health benefits and functional properties of seafood nutraceuticals. Chapter 6 deals with the health benefits of feruloylated oligosaccharides and their occurrence, isolation, structure, and functional food applications. Chapter 7 explains the importance of enzymes in food processing. Chapters 8 and 9 present a systemic overview of microbial products and their role in the food industry and the development of prebiotic and probiotic nondairy products. Chapter 10 focuses on the potential uses of dairy and vegetable-based food products to promote health and well-being. Chapter 11 deals with nutritional composition and medicinal benefits of edible mushrooms and their potential mechanism of action to prevent disease. Chapter 12 deals with eco-friendly solvents used for the extraction of plant-bioactive compounds. Chapter 13 discusses the potential use of microbial antagonists in the postharvest management of fruit. Chapter 14 discusses the potential application of plant volatiles in food protection and infestation control and the probable mode of action. Chapter 15 summarizes the role of modern technologies in postharvest management practices to reduce losses of food grain during storage. Chapters 16 and 17 deal with the application of ultrasound and nanomaterials in food processing and preservation. Chapter 18 includes information on modern tools and techniques for bioactive food ingredients.

I express my sincere thanks to the reviewers of the proposal for their healthy suggestions and to the authors for their timely contributions, in spite of their busy academic schedules. My sincere thanks also go to Professor N.K. Dubey and Professor Ram Rajasekharan who have always been there for me and have supported me throughout my career. My love goes to my niece Aradhya Saran, niece Srijan Gautam, and my son Ayansh Pratap Saran. I also express my sincere thanks to my family members and bow my head to my parents for their blessings and encouragement. My sincere thanks also go to my research students. I acknowledge the financial support from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, under the Institute of Eminence (IoE; 6031) scheme. Thanks are also due to Elsevier for publishing this book. Special thanks to Bandeira Nina (acquisitions editor) and Lena Sparks (editorial project manager) for their consistent support and to all others involved in making this book a reality.

Chapter 1: Food and human health: An outlook of the journey of food from hunger satisfaction to health-promoting agent

Bhanu Prakash; Prem Pratap Singh; Akshay Kumar; Vishal Gupta    Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

The present chapter provides an overview of the journey of food from hunger satisfaction to health-promoting agents. The inherent components of food such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, lipids, antioxidants, and minerals are required for the normal physiological functioning of the body parts. In the modern era of the 21st century, the lifestyle and eating habits of people have been changed drastically. The change in eating habits and unhealthy diet leads to the emergence of modern diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, allergies, and cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. In view of the increase in life expectancy, side effects of modern-day drugs during their prolonged uses, the use of functional and nutraceutical food as a preventive step to control such diseases would be preferred. The present chapter highlights the role of foods and their bioactive components in human health, associated challenges, and future research perspectives. In addition, the role of science and technological applications especially waste-recycling approaches, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, toxicity prediction tools for the sustainable uses of functional and nutraceutical food, and the need for coordinated regulatory framework are discussed.

Keywords

Functional and nutraceutical food; Waste-recycling approaches; Nanotechnology; Bioinformatics; Toxicity prediction tools; Regulatory framework

Introduction

Food has been used by human beings since antiquity, not only to reduce hunger/appetite but also to boost the body’s stamina. The inherent components of food such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, lipids, antioxidants, peptides, glucosinolates, and minerals are key nutrients required for the normal physiological functioning of the body part. Historical literature reviews suggested that food is the basic foundation of cultural and social activities in human beings and every civilization has its food eating habit. The consumption pattern and types of food either plant origin (fruit, vegetable, grains) or animal-based (milk, meat, and seafood) are well connected to the social and cultural identities of humans and their surrounding environment. Meat is one of the major foods of early human hunter-gatherers especially in winter when the plants and their products were not available/less available. The fossil evidence revealed that consumption of meat is the major source of high calories, protein, vitamins, dietary fibers, and vital minerals. The discovery of human-controlled fire (800,000 years ago) leads to remarkable progress in meat-eating habits, which make meat food more palatable and digestible. The reduction in tooth size in Homo erectus is scientific evidence of the consumption of roasted meat instead of raw meat (Zink, Lieberman, & Lucas, 2014).

The agriculture practices such as farming and cultivation of crop food lead to early agrarian society over the past ~   12,000 years, in Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa. The cultivation of food grains viz., sorghum, barley, wheat, corn, and rice make the efficient availability of plant-based food, cause the major shift in human diets from past meat-rich and carbohydrate-poor diet to present high-carbohydrate diets. Thus, the dietary pattern of human ancestors changes over time in response to the availability of food and selective pressures during evolutionary time. The changes in dietary patterns from hunter-gatherers to present-day agrarian society impose selective pressures on various biological processes, which have a strong correlation with the dietary pattern.

In the modern era of the twenty-first century, the lifestyle and eating habits of people have been changed drastically. The change in eating habits and unhealthy diet leads to the emergence of modern diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, allergies, and cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 1.5 billion adults are overweight with approximately 200 and 300 million obese population of men and women worldwide (World Health Organization Media Centre, 2011). Obesity leads to the incidence of metabolic syndrome associated with an increased risk of diabetes, atherosclerosis, neurodegenerative, fatty liver, and cancer (Magrone et al., 2013).

Although a large number of modern medicines are available for the cure of such diseases, given their high cost and long-term side effect, their continuous uses are discouraged by the consumers. Nearly 2000 years ago, Hippocrates (father of modern medicine) coined the phrase Let food be the medicine, and medicine be the food, highlighted the role and importance of food in human health. A plethora of literature stating the potential health benefit effects of foods in traditional literature of Indian, Egyptian, Chinese, and Sumerian. This concept leads to the emergence of a baseline of one of the most accepted concepts in food and pharmaceutical science for the control of disease by nutrition-based pharmaceuticals. Further, because of the increase in life expectancy, side effects of modern-day drugs during their prolonged uses, the use of functional and nutraceutical food as a preventive step to control such disease would be preferred.

The present chapter explores the role of foods and their bioactive component in human health, associated challenges, and future perspectives. In addition, the role of science and technological application especially nanotechnology, bioinformatics, toxicity prediction tools for the sustainable uses of functional and nutraceutical food, and the need for a coordinated regulatory framework are discussed.

Food as medicine: Functional food and nutraceuticals

Nowadays, health-conscious consumers are inclined towards healthy foods, which are beneficial to improve the physical and mental well-being of the consumers. In the past few decades, the perception of the consumer on health benefit effects of food changes considerably. The literature review evidence suggested that consumption of poly-phenolic-rich foods is associated with a lower incidence of nutrition-related diseases such as cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and certain types of cancer (Sofi, Cesari, Abbate, Gensini, & Casini, 2008). The consumption of a balanced diet based on whole grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, and marine products rich in polyphenolic, long-chain n-3 PUFA, vitamins A, B, C, and E significantly improved consumer health (Calder et al., 2011). In general, people believe that the traditionally used food and their bioactive compounds would have low risk and lesser side effects. This belief enforces the scientific community to search the food-based bioactive compounds which could improve health and reduces the incidence of disease. The recent advance in extraction and characterization methods increases the exploration and exploitation of bioactive compounds found in foods, created a renaissance in nutrition research to boost human health.

Currently, a large number of food products (plant, animal, and microbial origin) have been reported for their functional activities and accepted by the consumers as a preventive step to manage the disease and health status (Santini, Tenore, & Novellino, 2017). Therefore, the market demands for such food products are constantly growing in the food and pharmaceutical industry. Functional foods and nutraceuticals terms are preferably used to describe the health-promoting properties of food products. Functional food is a normal food or food product which is linked to health benefits, consumption of such products reduces the risk of a certain disease (Day, Seymour, Pitts, Konczak, & Lundin, 2009). It should be food (not a drug) that exerts beneficial effects after consuming it with the regular diet but not in dosage form like the drug. The term was first used in Japan to explore the role of certain food against diseases especially diet-related beyond the basic role of gastronomic pleasure and nutrient supply. In Japan, functional foods are regulated by the legislative body FOSHU (Foods of Specified Health Use) legislation. To recognized food products as foods for specified health uses (FOSHU), the product must exhibit the following criteria: (a) improvements in dietary habits and consumer health; (b) scientific evidence for health claims; (c) clinically approved nutritional and functional activities; (d) without any side effects, and safe for consumption; (e) physical, chemical, and biological characteristics must be underlined; (f) must preserve the nutrient constituents of the food; (g) consumption pattern (daily or occasions); (h) The product/functional ingredients should not be considered as pharmaceutical (Maeda-Yamamoto, 2017). As per the definition of the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board (United States) any food and food ingredients obtained either from plant or animal sources that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrition could be considered as functional food (Aronson, 2017). For instance, raw food material contains bioactive ingredients such as lycopene (tomato), isoflavones (soy extracts), lutein/zeaxanthin (spinach and collard greens), β-glucan, oligosaccharides, starch (oat, wheat, barley), omega-3 fatty acid (flax, chia, walnuts, canola oil), allicin, allylic sulfides (garlic), organosulfur compounds (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and turnips), mineral and vitamin-rich such as Vit. E, folates, phenolic acids, zinc, iron, selenium, copper, manganese (Maize, Sorghum, and Millets), and processed functional foods (calcium-enriched milk, fruit juices with ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, probiotic-enriched yogurt, and phytosterol-enriched margarine) (Prakash, Kujur, Singh, Kumar, & Yadav, 2017; Proestos, 2018).

In 1989, Dr. Stephen L. DeFelice coined the term nutraceutical, which is the combination of two words nutrition and pharmaceutical. The term nutraceutical defines a compound or product isolated and purified from food items having potential physiological benefit against chronic diseases and is sold in a medicinal form such as tablet, powder, pills, and capsule and taken in dosage form, not as food (Gupta, Chauhan, Mehla, Sood, & Nair, 2010). For instance, a wide range of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and bioactive compounds of herbs such as piperine, curcumin, kuguacin, herbal products soup, and beverages are available in the market and widely accepted by consumers as a diet supplement for the prevention of certain disease.

Vegetables, cereals, grains, and fruit contain a large number of phytochemicals such as terpenoids, carotenoids, lecithin, lignans, oryzanols, polyphenol, phytosterols, tocopherols, triacylglycerols (TAGs), and omega-3 fatty acids, etc. which play a vital role in health beyond the basic nutritive role. Betulinic acid (natural pentacyclic lupine-structure triterpenoids) possesses a range of pharmacological effects such as anticancer, antidiabetic, antidepressant, antiinflammatory activity, antiviral, and antimicrobial activities (Amiri et al., 2020). Carotenoids (β-carotene, α-carotene, lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin) possess health-promoting properties such as antioxidant, antidiabetic, age-related disorder, anticancerous effect (Nagarajan, Ramanan, Raghunandan, Galanakis, & Krishnamurthy, 2017). The consumption of food enriched with Omega-3 fatty acids could effectively prevent age-related cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease (Kerdiles, Layé, & Calon, 2017).

Dietary intake of polyphenols (benzene rings with OH moieties) could provide beneficial preventive therapeutic effects against neurodegeneration, aging, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Besides, a large number of bioactive compounds isolated from various sources such as apigenin (parsley, celery, oranges, chamomile, thyme, oregano, basil, and tea); fisetin (strawberries, apples, kiwis, persimmon, grape, onion, and cucumber); caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid (vegetables, fruits, spices, olive oil, coffee); acacetin (parsley, thyme, celery, sweet red pepper); quercetin, (onion, apple, cherry, broccoli, and tomato); Epigallocatechin gallate (Tea); curcumin (Curcuma longa); resveratrol, ellagic acid (grapes, berries, pomegranate, peanuts) possess remarkable pharmacological activities against inflammation, neurodegenerative disease, diabetic, old-age dementia and cancers (Agunloye & Oboh, 2018; Boots, Haenen, & Bast, 2008; Khan, Syed, Ahmad, & Mukhtar, 2013; Saldanha et al., 2018; Salehi et al., 2018, 2019; Semwal et al., 2019).

Ma and Zhang (2017) published a comprehensive mini-review representing the broad spectrum of pharma-kinetic properties of grapes’ bioactive constituents. The bioactive phytoconstituents include the monomeric compounds viz. (+)-catechins, (−)-epicatechin, and (−)-epicatechin-3-O-gallate, etc. They summarized the potential health benefits related to grapes’ phytoconstituents as antioxidative, antidiabetic, anticholesterol, antiinflammatory, antiaging, antimicrobial, antiplatelet, and antitumorigenic. Ismail, Pu, Guo, Ma, & Liu, 2019 reported the phytoconstituent profile of the Adansonia digitata, the baobab fruit using the LC-MS/QTOF technique. They led to confirm the potential antioxidant activity of the identified compounds. The major compounds (proanthocyanidins, phenolic acids, flavonols, and saponins) responsible for antioxidant activity were identified. In the growing trend of identifying the natural source of functional food ingredients, Zengin et al. (2018) reported the potential antimicrobial, antioxidant and antienzymatic activity against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), tyrosinase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase of six wild species of Silene genera (S. alba, S. conoidea, S. dichotoma, S. italica, S. supina, and S. vulgaris). They confirmed the quinic acid, malic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-coumaric acid, and hesperidin as the major compounds in all six Silene species. Sharifi‐Rad et al. (2020) summarize the protective behavior of the Origanum sp. phytoconstituents against hypertension, cold, insomnia, toothache, headache, epilepsy, urinary tract infections, kidney, and respiratory disorders. They also explored the chemical profile (carvacrol, thymol, p‐cymene, −   terpinene, terpinene‐4‐ol, linalool, and sabinene hydrate) of Origanum essential oils. Ghasemzadeh, Jaafar, Bukhori, Rahmat, and Rahmat (2018) reported the bioactive compounds (quercetin and gallic acid) of Parkia speciosa are responsible for the antimicrobial and therapeutics effect especially against stomach pain, liver disease, diabetes, and worm infestations, and antiangiogenic activities. Mukhtar, Qureshi, Anwar, Mumtaz, and Marcu (2019) reported the phytochemical profiles and bioactivities of the Nigella sativa L. seed oil. The N. sativa exhibited analgesic, antiinflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and gastro-protective activities. Thymoquinone, linoleic acid, nigellone, nigilline, melanthin, and trans-anethol were reported as the major bioactive constituents of the Nigella sativa essential oil. Prabakaran and Shanmugavel (2017) elucidated the antidiabetic potential of Syzygium cumini. They demonstrated the inhibitory effect of up to 95.4% on alpha-amylase enzyme in a dose-dependent manner. Ibrahim, Mohamed, Khedr, Zayed, and El‐Kholy (2018) reported the major bioactive compounds (betalains, flavonoids, phenolic acids, phenylpropanoids, triterpenes, sterols, and fatty acids) of Hylocereus, possessed strong antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, hepato‐protective, antihyperlipidemic, antidiabetic, and wound healing activities. Park, Lee, and Choi (2017), explored the immunomodulator and antioxidative activity of Rice bran. They also reported the bioactive components of rice bran such as polyphenols, phytosterols, tocotrienols, omega-3 fatty acids, γ-oryzanol, B vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals.

Red yeast rice (a nutraceutical product of fermented rice by yeast) contains sugars (25%–73%), proteins (14%–31%), water (2%–7%), fatty acids (1%–5%), pigments, sterols, isoflavones, and polyketides especially monacolins with lipid-lowering activities. Coenzyme Q10 along with red yeast rice prevents muscular side effect and cardiovascular disease (Cicero et al., 2016).

In addition, nonbotanical functional products such as probiotics, meat, and poultry products exert desired health benefits. Probiotics are the class of functional products that contain live microorganisms which provide health benefits to the host if consumed in an adequate amount. Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the widely employed bacterial families within the probiotic field (El Sohaimy, 2012). These are the natural composition of the intestinal microbiota and traditional fermented foods viz. sauerkraut and yogurt. In the era of functional products, the meat products are reformulated as functional meats with desired fatty acid profile and inclusion of antioxidants, dietary fiber, and probiotics (Siro, Kápolna, Kápolna, & Lugasi, 2008). In addition, enrichment of egg composition with omega-3 fatty acids, Se, vitamins D, E, B12, and folic acid was also made and commercially available. In 1997, the company Belovo produced the functional eggs under the trade name of Columbus in Belgium. The Freshly foods in Devon, UK recently have been producing the enriched eggs as VITA eggs (Surai & Sparks, 2001).

Table 1.1 summarizes the list of bioactive compounds that possess functional and nutraceutical properties, their sources, therapeutic effects, and mechanism of toxicity.

Table 1.1

The drawback of functional or nutraceutical food and the need for research

The demands for functional food and nutraceuticals have increased tremendously in the past decades in the health market. There is no doubt that these future foods hold a great promise as valuable ingredients that provide medical or health benefits, including disease prevention. Although, functional food and nutraceuticals products exhibited an array of functional activities, either due to single components or by the mixture of ingredients. However, there are several challenges that must be addressed to realize their potential and acceptance among the common people of low income. The concerns were raised at every step of the development of nutraceuticals or functional food. For instance, limited information regarding the bioavailability, absorption, in vivo complications (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion in a typical human system), emergent risks generating because of the herb-drug interaction, and the taste of the future foods (Li-Chan, 2015). In addition, concerns were raised regarding the actual release and existence of the bioactive substances in the end products. Lahrichi, Affolter, Zolezzi, and Panchaud (2013) suggested the importance of the identification and validation of the peptide levels in the peptidomics (for bioactive peptide discovery). In the absence of supportive in vivo evidence, several bio-peptides claimed for health benefits was rejected by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) citing limited human studies and lack of convincing evidence (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA), 2010a,2010b, 2011). Although nutraceuticals are thought to have health benefits and disease prevention, safety concerns have been raised because of the herb-drug interaction phenomena (Hasler, 2002). There are several nutraceutical products that have been derived from the various herbs, it has been found that they interact with other drugs and cause adverse effects. Shengmaiyin, a popular tonic formulation was prepared to sue Chinese herbal product (contains Ginseng radix et rhizoma rubra (Hongshen), Ophiopogonis radix (Maidong), and Schisandrae chinensisfructus (Wuweizi)) found to be interacting with warfarin and causing bleeding (Chan, Zhang, & Lin, 2012). St John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) causes the inactivation of several drugs including theophylline, cyclosporine, warfarin, and ethinylestradiol/desogestrel (oral contraceptives) (Borrelli & Izzo, 2009; Hasler, 2002). Therefore, well-designed research using in vivo model should be performed at the level of compounds to evaluate their potential chemical interactions. The research programs should also include intense biochemical, medical, and epidemiological studies to fortify the safety concerns regarding nutraceuticals (Childs, Lachance, & Meagher, 2000). The last but not least, concerns regarding the organoleptic properties of the nutraceuticals or functional foods especially taste must be addressed to fullfil the demand for products with a pleasant taste and smell for its wide acceptance (Selvamuthukumaran & Pathak, 2019). Hence, new approaches are needed to unravel the structural features associated with the off-taste of the bio-ingredients and to develop the protocols to reduce the undesirable sensation by nanoencapsulation techniques, bitter masking procedures, or enzymatic treatments (Leksrisompong, Gerard, Lopetcharat, & Drake, 2012; Raksakulthai & Haard, 2003; Yang et al., 2012). Further, the conclusive data on human trials is often controversial concerning the health claim made for the consumption of food items or extracts, hence, more reliable investigations in humans are needed to explore the bioactive ingredients in food responsible for the management of diet-related diseases.

Use of modern science and technological approaches to enhance the bioactivity of food components: Sustainable approaches

Waste-recycling mode

The rise in the demand for natural food let the food industries stream the agri-food wastes as a promising source of functional compounds. They are the potentially valuable components having favorable nutritional and rheological properties whose re-processing not only minimizes the extra revenue on the waste treatment but also reduces the impact of organic waste on human health. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported a considerably higher carbon footprint and a major blue water hotspot created by vegetable and fruit wastes respectively in industrialized countries like Europe and Asia in 2019 (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 2013). The agro-food wastage creates disposal-safety issues and, also tends to negatively impact the environmental factors. As per the literature survey, the agri-food wastes comprise the ~   33% on-farm, i.e., agricultural production wastages while 31%–39% off-farm, i.e., consumption level wastages. The major agro-food waste sources comprise fruit, vegetable, marine, meat, and dairy by-products (Ben-Othman, Jõudu, & Bhat, 2020). Nowadays, the industries related to the processing of these food ingredients, re-process their waste to obtain functional food ingredients such as polysaccharides, vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and bioactive (viz. flavonoids and lycopene), for their sustainable and stable economic growth in the neck cutting competition of the market.

In the present scenario, with state-of-the-art technologies, new concepts of the green chemistry principles have been established to harness the true potential of the food wastes and by-products towards producing the value-added green bioactive ingredients. The advanced spectroscopic techniques viz. Fourier-transform Infrared (FTIR) provides a valuable tool for the analysis of functional qualities of the food waste while, eutectic solvents are proposed to be efficient, nontoxic, and low-cost green alternative to organic solvents. The ongoing reckons are focused to explore, evaluate, and create databases on the extracts of wastes and by-products to understand their potential, bioavailability, and metabolism.

The research data have shown the higher amounts of bioactive compounds in the nonedible parts of fruits and vegetables such as peels or skin portions and twigs in comparison to the edible parts. For instance, the quantity of polyphenolic compounds recorded in apple pellets, grape varieties, citrus fruits or jackfruit, avocado, and mango seeds is higher by more than 15% than their edible fleshy part (Soong & Barlow, 2004). Also, the pomace-borne fruit waste (i.e., the mixture of pulp, skin, seeds, and stem) contains much more valuable bioactive compounds than the juice itself. Thus, it is obvious from the available literature that the valorization of agri-food wastes and by-products represents a novel opportunity to minimize the waste generation in the cause of the zero waste concept and explore the possible potential applications of waste materials in producing green food ingredients (Ben-Othman et al., 2020).

Optimized extraction technology

The techniques used for the extraction of phytoconstituents have significant importance at the social as well as economic level, hence they must include green procedures to harness the bioactive constituents from natural sources. The classical extraction techniques working with solid-liquid and liquid-liquid extractions using different solvents have issues with their long extraction time, the need for large amounts of solvent, low yield, and a large amount of waste debris (Fierascu, Fierascu, Ortan, Georgiev, & Sieniawska, 2020). Therefore, the extraction protocols must have efficient and cost-effective in the downstream processing of the extracted phytochemicals with a reduced quantity of raw material and energy consumption. Taking into the account above-mentioned drawback, the classical procedures might eventually be replaced with the green characteristics to develop the present-day techniques. The modern techniques which are developed with the green characteristics are broadly categorized into microwave-assisted extraction, pressurized liquid extraction, subcritical water extraction, supercritical fluids extraction, and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) approaches (Azmir et al., 2013).

The Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) causes the quick heating of the raw material leading to quantitatively and qualitatively enhanced extraction of phytoconstituents as compared to conventional procedures. As an alternative to the classical organic solvents, ionic liquids served as the most-suitable solvents for the MAE. In addition, with the ability of optimization of energy absorbed and reduction in temperature fluctuation, the qualitative and quantitative efficiency of the MAE protocol can be further enhanced (Lidia, Delia, Nancy, & Rosa Isela, 2017).

Nano-techniques

Food nanotechnology is an eclectic derivative of the food sector with the idea of improvement in functionality, design, and safety profile of food ingredients. Nanotechnology has been already revolutionized the pharmaceuticals sector. In the past few years, exhaustive research has been performed, which shows the significance of nanotechnology in the food sector too, especially for the development of carrier agents, and nanosensors in the agri-food sector (Anandharamakrishnan, 2020; He & Hwang, 2016; Sozer & Kokini, 2008). Nanotechnology is a science for miniaturizing substances (<   100 nm) which influence bioactivity, bioavailability, functionality, and stability (Magalhães, Zanoni, Helm, Lazzarotto, & Satyanarayana, 2017). Also, it is an integral part of the food system as many of the food properties and characters are governed by their nano-scale structural blocks, i.e., proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.

Nowadays, nanotechnology has been successfully employed for the development of nano-encapsulated food supplements, additives, and functional foods. It ameliorates the properties of encapsulated bioactive compounds such as targeted delivery, solubility, and cellular absorption that cut-off the execrable effects (unstable nature, degradation during storage, variable bioavailability) related to the bioactive compounds (Chen, Remondetto, & Subirade, 2006). The nano-powered delivery system consists of the tools of transportation that ensure the targeted delivery of food ingredients and also reduce the undesirable interactions with other food components. Also, the nanoencapsulation protects the active components of the food system from external environmental factors like humidity, heat, light, temperature, and oxidation (Leena, Mahalakshmi, Moses, & Anandharamakrishnan, 2020). With the aforementioned qualities, nanotechnology ensures the production of functional foods having bioactive compounds with enhanced functionality and stability.

In the recent term of customization of food products according to consumer preferences which include functional ingredients with desirable flavor and taste, nano foods served to be better options than genetically modified foods. The nano-scaling, nano-emulsification, and nanopatterning of food ingredients allow improvement in product properties to meet the demand for customized foods. Enhancement of foaming pattern of beer (nanopatterning), reduction in the fat content of high-fat food without losing its organoleptic properties (nano-emulsification), and taste enhancement of minimally processed food products via nano-edible coating are some of the examples of customization of food products at nano-scale (Anandharamakrishnan, 2020).

Bioinformatics-assisted techniques

The machinery of computational biology also called bioinformatics has lots of offerings for the food sector. There are several software and approaches that have been exploited by the food industry for the strategic approach to produce novel bioactive components. The information regarding the novel bioactive components is encrypted in biological mass data and requires appropriate processing, analyzing, and interpretation via in-silico tools (Valdés, Cifuentes, & León, 2017). In spite of guesswork about the bioactive components, with the help of initial mining, bio-info tools can predict beforehand the kinds and potency of bioactive that can be supplemented in the food. With the ability of in-silico prediction of the physicochemical properties, bioinformatics makes the purification of bioactive a lot easier. It can theoretically predict the physicochemical, bioactive, and sensory properties of the bioactive components that can be made to design the methodological channel to easily purify the desirable bioactive compounds (Agyei, Ongkudon, Wei, Chan, & Danquah, 2016). Also, the primitive safety profiling of functional ingredients can be analyzed with the help of in-silico tools (Hayes, Rougé, Barre, Herouet-Guicheney, & Roggen, 2015).

In the present chapter, some plant-based bioactive compounds have been selected based on the literature survey to show their beneficial effects in disease prevention and cure in human beings via the bioinformatics approach (Prakash, Singh, Kumar, & Gupta, 2020; Singh, Kumar, & Prakash, 2020). Further, their toxicity and pharmacokinetic profiles were generated by ADMET (ADMET: Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion, Toxicity) tool of pkCSM web facility (http://structure.bioc.cam.ac.uk/pkcsm) (Pires, Blundell, & Ascher, 2015) to represent a deeper insight into the compound’s pharmaceutical properties. Human acetylcholinesterase (Holzgrabe, Kapková, Alptüzün, Scheiber, & Kugelmann, 2007) and CDK8/Cyclin C (Philip, Kumarasiri, Teo, Yu, & Wang, 2017) were selected as target proteins to decipher the curative effect of selected compounds in human neurodegenerative disorders and cancer disease. The crystal structures of human acetylcholinesterase and cdk8/cyclin c were retrieved from the RCSB-PDB website with the PDB IDs 4PQE and 6T41, respectively. The selected plant-based bioactive compounds were camphene, geranyl acetate, linalyl acetate, limonene, and nerol; their 3D atomic coordinates were retrieved from the PubChem database.

For the docking simulation, the Patchdock server (https://bioinfo3d.cs.tau.ac.il/PatchDock) was used to generate the ligand poses in the interactive environment of the target proteins (Schneidman-Duhovny, Inbar, Nussinov, & Wolfson, 2005). After generating ~   500 orientations based on the geometrical scoring by Patchdock server, further Firedock server (http://bioinfo3d.cs.tau.ac.il/FireDock) was used to rescore the orientations based on their global energy of binding. The receptor-ligand complex selected from the best structures generated by Firedock server for result prediction was based on the global energy of binding, attractive Van der Waals (vdw), and atomic contact energy (ACE) obtained from Firedock server (Andrusier, Nussinov, & Wolfson, 2007).

The best receptor-ligand complexes, selected for result prediction were shown in Fig. 1.1. The target-ligand interactive results were shown in Fig. 1.2 with respect to global binding energy, attractive vdw, and ACE. The result indicated that all the compounds have a potential effect in inhibitory binding to the receptor proteins (acetylcholinesterase and cdk8/cyclin c). As per the ADMET properties shown in Table 1.2, there is no violation of the tested parameters by the selected bioactive compounds, therefore they could be considered safe if provided at an acceptable range. Also, the bioactive compounds were found acceptable about the limitations of lipophilicity, hydrophobicity, and polarity. Therefore, they could be recommended for advanced analysis to develop plant-based therapeutics.

Fig. 1.1

Fig. 1.1 Docking results of test compounds with targeted protein with PDB ID 4PQE and 6T41.

Fig. 1.2

Fig. 1.2 Global binding energy, attractive vdw (van der Waals) and ACE (atomic contact energy) of test compounds with targeted protein 4PQE and 6 T41.

Table 1.2

Regulation

The concept of functional products such as functional foods, food supplements, and nutraceuticals, linked with the health beneficial effects is not so clear among the consumers thus they consume them interchangeably. There is no specific regulatory framework that persists regarding the use of the aforementioned functional products with uniform worldwide acceptability (Santini et al., 2018). Functional products are at the interface between food and medicine, therefore, currently available regulation related to food and medicine will not be effective for these novel therapeutic bioactive products used for the prevention of nutrition-related disease (Dominguez Diaz, Fernández-Ruiz, & Cámara, 2020).

The formulation process of functional food products and claimed health beneficial effects must be approved by the regulatory authority, to get the wide acceptance of the end consumer. Thus, the thorough evaluation of food products is essential in securing its health claim by investigating their efficacy and safety within the prescribed food matrix or capsule and in vivo. For instance, the foods for special medical purposes and medical foods are considered to be food products without any active substance by European Regulation (EU) (No 609/2013; last amendment in 2017), and American Orphan Drug Act, United States Congress 1983; last amendment in 2017, respectively (Dominguez Diaz et al., 2020).

The European regulation accepts the concept of functional foods under the general food law, so the product must be following the rules and regulations made for the general food category and it should be effective below the cut-off point recommended for daily intake for the treatment of nutrient-related diseases. The concept of fortified or enriched food product (specific nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and other substances were added to get desired effects) were regulated by European Regulation (EC) 1925/2006 (With amendments Regulation (EC) No 108/2008, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1170/2009, Commission Regulation (EU) No 1161/2011, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Commission Regulation (EU) No 119/2014, Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/403 and Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1203). In addition, the scientific assessment, accuracy in claimed health effect/bioactivity, advertisement, and labeling of novel functional products deal with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 and Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 (Dominguez Diaz et al., 2020). In the United States, functional food products should follow the rule and regulations made by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (1938) (latest amendment in 2018) for conventional food (Dominguez Diaz et al., 2020). The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) created a catalog system for health function claims and bioactive ingredients associated with healthy foods. The catalog system for health function claims and health food ingredients ensures the regulatory review of both the end products and their ingredients by the CFDA. Afterward, the CFDA provides a Health Food Approval Certificate to the approved dietary supplements for their legalized production in China (Binns, Lee, & Lee, 2018). The Indian government established an autonomous body Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, to consolidate the issue of food safety and regulation in India. There has been an amendment made covering the eight categories of functional foods (health supplements, nutraceuticals, special dietary foods, special medical foods, functional foods, novel foods, etc.) under the sub-section (1) of section 92 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 (34 of 2006) named Food Safety and Standards, Regulations, 2015 (https://fssai.gov.in/cms/health-supplements.php). Unlikely, the restricted environment of various jurisdictions causes substantial obstruction in the approval of the functional products. Hence, a specific, legal, and scientifically approved definition-based regulatory framework is necessary to communicate the correct food/health relationship to the general