New Products And Ingredients

Present day needs as well as future trends in food product development are taken into consideration in selecting the ingredients.
 
Increasingly the issue for the food industry becomes one of understanding the health benefits of food and diet and of targeting research towards elucidating the physiologically active components and their mechanisms of action. Many of these physiologically active compounds are found in well-known food sources,  in addition to those less recognized. Soya, cereal bran, onion, garlic, many fruits and vegetables, are just a few among a wide variety of foods with potential health benefits. Research designed to understand and enhance these benefits is critically important. Clearly, such a targeted approach could lead to the development of "functional foods". What are these functional foods? The next sub-section focuses on this aspect.