Benders'dictionary of nutrition and food technology

149deoxycholic acid One of the secondary bile salts, formed byintestinal bacterial metabolism of cholic acid.deoxynivalenol Trichothecene mycotoxin produced when cerealsare infected with Fusarium spp.4-deoxypyridixine Antimetabolite of vitamin b 6 used in experimentalstudies of vitamin B 6 deficiency.deoxyribonucleic acid See dna; nucleic acids.deoxyuridine suppression test See dump suppression test.depectinisation The removal of pectin from fruit juice to producea clear thin juice instead of a viscous, cloudy liquid, by enzymichydrolysis.depositor Machine for depositing a precise amount of food intoa mould or onto a conveyor belt.Derby English hard cheese, often flavoured with sage.Derbyshire neck See goitre.dermatitis A lesion or inflammation of the skin caused by outsideagents (unlike eczema, which is an endogenous disease); manynutritional deficiency diseases include more or less specific skinlesions (e.g. ariboflavinosis, kwashiorkor, pellagra, scurvy),but most cases of dermatitis are not associated with nutritionaldeficiency, and do not respond to nutritional supplements. Dermatitisherpetiformis is an uncommon itchy and blistering rashassociated with coeliac disease.desferrioxamine Chelating agent used in treatment of iron overload;the iron chelate is excreted in the urine. Given by 8–12 hsubcutaneous perfusion 3–7 times a week.designer foods Alternative name for functional foods.desmosine The cross-linkage compound between chains of theconnective tissue protein elastin, formed by reaction of two orthree lysine residues in adjacent polypeptide chains.desmutagen Compound acting directly on a mutagen to decreaseits mutagenicity.desorption Removal of moisture from a food.detox diets Weight reduction diets based on the (probably fallacious)concept that the body accumulates large amounts of toxinsfrom food and the environment that must be cleared by a periodof fasting.detoxication The metabolism of (potentially) toxic compounds toyield less toxic derivatives that are more soluble in water and canbe excreted in the urine or bile.A wide variety of ‘foreign compounds’(i.e. compounds that are not normal metabolites in thebody), sometimes referred to as xenobiotics, and some hormonesand other normal body metabolites, are metabolised in the sameway.See also cytochromes; phase i metabolism.