Chemical and Functional Properties of Food Saccharides

© 2004 by CRC Press LLC
Health and nutritional problems. These issues are discussed by an M.D. in
Chapter 20.
Sources, properties, and applications of particular groups of carbohydrates.
This includes cyclodextrins (Chapter 17), carbohydrates of animal tissues (Chapter
16), starch (Chapters 7 and 8), pectic polysaccharides (Chapter 12), fructans (Chapter
13), chitosan (Chapter 14), and plant and algal gums and mucilages (Chapter 15).
Natural and synthetic nonsaccharide sweeteners. These are discussed in Chapter
24. Natural and synthetic sweeteners compete with saccharide sweeteners for a
variety of reasons. Technological problems encountered during food production and
issues related to nutrition have created interest in their applications in food products
jointly with carbohydrates. In addition, several essentially nonsaccharide sweeteners
carry in their structures saccharide aglycones. These factors warrant the inclusion
of this chapter.
Throughout the book, the chapters summarize the current state of knowledge
and provide prospects for the development of research and technology in a given
area. I hope that our joint efforts have brought interesting results for our readers.