Phytochemistry of Fruits and Vegetables

by F. A. Tomïs-Barberïn, R. J. Robins

Overview

Recent advances in genetic engineering and in the chemistry and biochemistry of fruit and vegetables have radically changed our understanding of the mechanisms underlying these processes, and the potential for modification of the products themselves. This is the first book to examine these topics and address the role of fresh fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet and the prevention of cancer and coronary diseases. The main focus is on the secondary metabolites which are responsible for quality characteristics including color, aroma, and flavor, and their nutritional importance and role in the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. The book also explores how the post-harvest technological treatments to which these commodities are submitted can cause changes in secondary metabolism, with consequences for the quality of the product.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198577904
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/27/1997
Series:	Proceedings of the Phytochemical Society of Europe , #41
Pages:	398
Product dimensions:	9.28(w) x 6.36(h) x 1.33(d)

About the Author

Laboratorio de Fitoquimica, Murcia

Faculte des Sciences, Nantes

Table of Contents

1. Phytochemistry of fruit and vegetables2. Carotenoids from fruit and vegetables3. Molecular interactions of phenolic compounds in relation to the colour fruit and vegetables4. Phenolic compounds and oxidative mechanisms in fruit and vegetables5. Astringency6. Fruit aroma precursors with special reference to phenolics7. Aroma biochemistry of fruit and vegetables8. The psychology of food choice: the influence of attitudes and flavour perception9. Coumarins in frut and vegetabvles10. Physical and physiological changes in minimally processed fruit and vegetables11. Role of phytoalexins and other antimicrobial compounds from fruits and vegetables in post-harvest disease resistance12. ACC oxidase gene family: Characterization and down regulation by genetic manipulation13. Options for the genetic manipulation of astringent and antinutritional metabolites in fruit and vegetables14. Gibberellins and fruit development15. The possible role of antioxidants in fruit and vegetables in protecting against coronary heart disease16. Potentially anticarcinogenic secondary metabolites from fruit and vegetables17. Toxic compounds from fruit and vegetables. An ecological overview

Editorial Reviews

"The wide range of topics reviewed in this book provides an excellent text on the role of secondary metabolites in fruits and vegetables. . .We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in quality and health functionality of fruits and vegetables." —HortScience

"This book will be of particular importance to food chemists, flavor and fragrance specialists, and those involved in chemical ecology." —Journal of the American Chemical Society

"The wide range of topics reviewed in this book provides an excellent text on the role of secondary metabolites in fruits and vegetables...The text is well laid out, easy to read with clear figures and tables and comprehensive lists of references (through 1995). We highly recommend this book to anyone interested in quality and health functionality of fruits and vegetables." —Perishables Handling Quarterly

"The strength of this volume lies in the fact that it offers a very broad and good coverage of a number of topics that are normally scattered throughout a very specialized literature. Libraries will want to purchase this volume."—Quarterly Review of Biology

From the Publisher