Benders'dictionary of nutrition and food technology

488uric acid The end-product of purine metabolism in human beingsand other apes; most other mammals have the enzyme uricase(EC 1.7.3.3), which oxidises uric acid to allantoin, which is moresoluble in water. gout is the result of excessive formation of uricacid, and/or impaired excretion; it is only slightly soluble inwater, and in excess it crystallises in joints, as gouty nodules(tophi) under the skin and sometimes in the kidney.urobilinogen Pigment in urine derived from the bile pigments,which, in turn, are formed from haemoglobin. When urine is leftto stand, the urobilinogen is oxidised in air to urobilin.urogastrone Name given to a peptide found in urine thatinhibits gastric secretion, (nearly) identical to epidermal growthfactor.urwaga See orubisi.USDA US Department of Agriculture, created as an independentdepartment in 1862; web site http://www.usda.gov/.USRDA reference intakes used for nutritional labelling offoods in the USA before the introduction of daily values.uszka Polish; type of ravioli, egg-flour dough stuffed withmushrooms.UV See ultraviolet.Vvacherin (1) Circular cakes of meringue and cream.(2) French mild cheeses made from cow’s milk; traditionallymoulded in flat circles and wrapped in a border of bark.vac-ice process Alternative name for freeze drying.vacreation deodorisation of cream by steam distillation underreduced pressure; developed in New Zealand.vacuum contact drying Or vacuum contact plate process, amethod of drying food in a vacuum oven in which the materialis heated by hot plates both above and below. As the materialshrinks due to water loss, continuous contact is maintained byclosing the plates; heats the food more effectively than a simplevacuum oven.vada Indian; spiced, deep fried balls of legume flour that has beenleft overnight to undergo a lactic acid bacterial fermentation,together with Leuconostoc mesenteroides, which producescarbon dioxide as a leavening agent.vagotomy Surgical cutting of part of the vagus (10th cranial)nerve, usually to reduce secretion of acid and pepsin by thegastric mucosa.valerian Extracts and the essential oil of the herbaceous perennialValeriana officianalis are used as flavouring in many foods.