Disseny d'aliments funcionals

Abstract

Recently, the consumer hasmore information and knowledge about his nutritional needs, the food composition and their effects on his health.Nevertheless, the consumer is attracted by innovative products and products that allow a healthy life style with indulgence. In order to give a solution to thismarket need it is important to work all together consumers, industry, administration and research groups.On one side, the food industry has to provide withmore processed food, ofmore quality, sensorial attractive,more stable and alsomore healthy food. This kind of food are known as functional food.On the other side, the administration is setting on the rules to be considered in order to guarantee the quality of this kind of products towards the consumers. Finally, the industry in collaboration with research groups has to develop new tools to evaluate and to demonstrate, in an objectivemanner, the beneficial health effect of this kind of food. In this way, a new world is opened in the design, development, innovation and elaboration of such foods. To reach these goals, three fields are being developed.One field implies the selection, the obtation and the concentration of active compounds and ingredients with a known health benefit. The second field is the design and development of the food with health benefit and its standardization. And the third field is the evaluation and validation of the health benefit of the final product. In the selection, obtention and concentration of active compounds, an inventory list of possibly usable ingredients is done. It is important to use a suitable compound amount in foods in order to assure the desired health benefit by a normal food ingestion. To obtain these ingredients, it is worthy to work with processes thatmay adequate the ingredients in order to be used in the foods with health benefit. In some cases, the introduction of new ormodified ingredients in the formulation gives the final product undesirable effects on the sensorial, rheological, stability and interferences. Thus, the reformulation of the product and a deep food technology knowledge is required. In formulation and processing intermediate steps, industry, togetherwith universities and research centres,has to adjust some approaches for the validation of the healthy effect. Several health evaluationmodels can be combined: in vitro non cellularmodels, in vitro cellularmodels,models in silico,models in vivowith animals, omics tools, among others. Finally, intervention studies in human have to showthe health benefit claimed in the label of the product thatwill reach the end consumer. Nowadays, an authentic revolution in the sector exists. This revolution represents a challenge for all the implicated fields and a hard development of emerging technologies and knowledge. The final aimis tomake food as one of the key factors inmaintaining the wellness and the health of the population.