Fast fatty acid analysis

Edited by John Shi, Chi-Tang Ho, and Fereidoon Shahidi. CRC Press, 2005. This third volume in the Nutraceutical Science and Technology Series covers a wide range of Asian functional foods that have healthy benefits. The book pays particular attention to regular Asian foods, with respect to sources, history, important components, properties, health benefits, possible mechanisms and some clinical and epidemiological information. Healthy and healing foods have a long history in Asian cultures. For example, the Chinese and Indians have long known that food and medicine come from the same source, can prevent and treat aliments, and will help a person to live a healthy life. One of the most remarkable Asian contributions to civilization is the wealth of information collected on the uses of natural substances, plants, chemicals, and animals in treating illnesses. No doubt, tracing back to ancient time, both the interrelationship between food and medicine has been an important concept. Today, Asian countries have a wide range of nutritional needs, with some countries wrestling with problems of undernourishment and others suffering more from health problems associated with over-nutrition. In fact, this trend extends outside Asia to many Western countries where problems of malnutrition and overnutrition coexist. The result of these problems is that many affluent societies are now faced with new rises in many chronic diseases such as obesity, cancer, and heart problems while the cost of medical services continues to increase. Therefore, development of Asian functional foods not only has great business opportunities within Asian nations, but also exerts significant impact on the health and wellbeing of general populations around the world. Asian Functional Foods consists of 21 chapters, authored and co-authored by as many as 41 well-known scientists across the continents. The subjects cover a range of functional foods, including Asian herbs and tea, seafoods, red meat, fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, garlic, onion, sugarcane, and even fermented soyfood. The discussions also explain a food’s developmental history and its local ethnic culture. From foods and beverages, supplements and new medicines, the book also includes information on market opportunities and emerging food technologies. There is even a chapter reporting research in applying Western-developed fat replacers to improve the functional and nutritive values of Asian foods. This book is international in scope, broad and timely in subject coverage. It is fairly comprehensive at nearly 650 pages, and each chapter has an extensive list of references for additional learning. Therefore, the volume should serve as a good reference book and a valuable addition to a reader’s personal library. Like many other new books, there are some aspects that could have been better treated during writing and editing. In this reviewer’s opinion, these problems include lack of cohesiveness and logical order in chapter arrangements, inconsistency in coverage and styles among the chapters, and lack of link words among chapters. For example, chapter 19 is about Japanese miso and chapter 20 about Korean Doenjang. Although the two chapters cover the same group of food products—fermented soy paste that can be traced back to ancient Chinese jiang or chiang—each chapter is rather dependently described, and there are no linking words about each other in the text or preface. In terms of content, I found it problematic that there was no single chapter covering Asian functional foods derived from cereals and grains. The largest problem, however, was the lack of a general definition about Asian functional foods and suggested classification. In spite of these problems, however, it is a good reference book. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to food scientists, food technologists, nutritionists, biochemists, engineers, and business developers in foods, beverages, pharmaceutical, and related fields. In fact, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Asian functional foods, their functional components and health benefits, regardless of whether he or she is a newcomer or longtime professional in the field.