Vol. 5: Nutrition and Health

350 pages

The final volume, Volume 5, deals with the topic that is of greatest general interest and public concern, carotenoids in human health and nutrition. This is the era of ’functional foods’, and identifying roles of chemical components of foods as important micronutrients. Carotenoids feature high on the list of these. Volume 5 follows the carotenoid story from food to biological actions. The treatment of the fundamental properties of carotenoids, presented in the companion volume, Volume 4, provides a foundation. The material presented in other Volumes is also relevant to studies of biological functions and actions. Biological studies must be supported by a rigorous analytical base. The first part of Volume 5 deals with nutrition. Methods for HPLC analysis of carotenoids in food, blood and tissues presented in Volume 5 build on descriptions in Volumes 1A and 1B. Main sources of nutritionally important carotenoids in food and as supplements are summarized. Production by microbial biotechnology and prospects for improvement of carotenoid content and composition in plants by genetic manipulation are assessed. Factors that determine the bioavailability of carotenoids – food structure, digestion, absorption, transport, deposition and localization in tissues – are discussed as well as conversion into vitamin A. This leads to a discussion of the diverse roles that carotenoids may play in human health. The importance of dietary carotenoids as provitamin A in fighting vitamin A deficiency is emphasized. The debate about whether antioxidant activity in vivo may play any part in the reported biological actions of carotenoids is considered. The associations between a carotenoid-rich diet and reduced risk of the serious degenerative diseases cancer and coronary heart disease are considered and evaluated, and roles of carotenoids in maintaining eye health, protecting skin against photoaging, and stimulating the immune response system are discussed. The question of whether reported actions attributed to carotenoids may actually be mediated by vitamin A or other metabolites is addressed. Experimental strategies are discussed, including epidemiological methods and intervention trials, and studies of signalling and other mechanisms in cells in culture. Carotenoids, Volume 5 is planned as a coordinated, integrated treatment providing up-to-date and critical research surveys by leading authorities in the field, and incorporating some background material to help make the chapters accessible to carotenoid researchers who are not specialists on the particular topic.

Visit the site of the publisher Birkhäuser Verlag Basle

Permalink