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Books in Agricultural and biological sciences

The Agricultural and Biological Sciences collection advances science-based knowledge for the improvement of animal and plant life and for secure food systems that produce nutritious, novel, sustainable foods with minimal environmental impact. Food Science titles include not only those products from agriculture but all other aspects from food production to nutrition, health and safety, chemistry to security, policy, law and regulation. Biological Sciences address animal behaviour and biodiversity, organismal and evolutionary biology, entomology, marine biology and aquaculture, plant science and forestry.

  • Medicinal Plant Biotechnology for Ameliorated Secondary Metabolite Production

    • 1st Edition
    • Saikat Gantait + 3 more
    • English
    Medicinal Plant Biotechnology for Ameliorated Secondary Metabolite Production delivers a cutting-edge perspective on how biotechnology is reshaping the way medicinal plants are studied and utilized. By integrating advanced molecular techniques, precision genetic tools, bioprocessing strategies, and analytical platforms, this volume addresses the critical challenge of enhancing the biosynthesis and optimization of high-value bioactive compounds.The book moves beyond technical innovation to emphasize its role in meeting global demand for plant-derived therapeutics while ensuring ecological balance. It highlights how advancements can drive sustainability, reduce reliance on synthetic alternatives, and open new pathways to ensure long-term viability of plant genetic material and biodiversity preservation. This future-oriented approach makes the volume not just a specialized reference, but a strategic guide for shaping the next generation of plant-based functional solutions.Part of the Medicinal and Industrial Plants and Products series, this state-of-the-art resource boasts a holistic approach with relevance across stakeholders in academic and industrial contexts seeking practical insights that can be adapted to diverse plant species and scaled for real-world industrial and commercial uses.
  • Plant Regeneration In Vitro

    Environmental Cues and Sustainability
    • 1st Edition
    • Mohammad Faisal + 2 more
    • English
    Plant Regeneration In Vitro: Environmental Cues and Sustainability provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of plant regeneration in vitro, with a particular focus on the environmental cues that influence this process. Authored and edited by leading experts, and addressing multiple methods, applications, and prospects of in vitro regeneration, the book explores the mechanisms and role that environmental factors play in determining the success of in-vitro plant regeneration. Furthermore, it explores a variety of environmental triggers that affect plant regeneration in vitro, such as temperature, light, humidity, nutrient availability, and plant growth regulators.Additiona... sections describe the current state-of-the-science and the latest in experimental work, helping readers optimize their own applications of current knowledge while also inspiring new approaches.
  • Oilseeds and Fats

    Trait Improvement, Processing, Properties and Applications
    • 1st Edition
    • Sanju Bala Dhull + 2 more
    • English
    Oilseeds and Fats: Trait Improvement, Processing, Properties and Applications covers recent developments in the areas of oilseeds production practices, breeding, and genetic improvement for sustainable production, with an emphasis on processing technologies and nutrition. The book explores eco-friendly extraction methods, waste reduction techniques, and the potential of using waste by-products for energy production or other applications. Specific sections deal with production, breeding, processing methods, composition, and consumption trends, and then delve into oilseeds and fats origin, composition, and characteristics, as well as the principles and methods involved in processing and refining these resources.Additional sections cover oilseed crops processing, properties, and application, offering insights into the utilization of oilseeds and fats to develop new products that meet consumers' evolving preferences, thus addressing environmental concerns. With increasing awareness of environmental issues and climate change, the book underscores the significance of sustainable practices in the oilseed and fats industry.
  • The Metallome in Motion

    Insights into Ecosystem and Food Chain Toxicodynamics
    • 1st Edition
    • Vandana Singh + 3 more
    • English
    The Metallome in Motion: Insights into Ecosystem and Food Chain Toxicodynamics fills a vital gap by integrating multidisciplinary research on how metals influence biological systems, food safety, and environmental health. The book’s contents span a wide range of interrelated topics, beginning with metal-mediated epigenetic modifications and toxicodynamics at the molecular and cellular levels. Other sections explore the geochemical and anthropogenic origins of contaminants, factors affecting metal bioavailability, and the synergistic effects of metal-radical interactions. In addition, detailed chapters address the roles of metalloproteins, pathways of bioaccumulation and trophic transfer, transgenerational toxicity, and hidden reservoirs such as soil microaggregates.Adva... analytical methods, the emerging field of toxicometallomics, impacts of metals in agriculture, quantum effects of nanoparticles, and global regulatory frameworks are also thoroughly discussed, making this an essential reference for postgraduate students in food science, as well as academics and researchers in agriculture, plant science, environmental science, and biotechnology.
  • Nitric Oxide in Plant Resilience to Abiotic Stress

    • 1st Edition
    • Ravi Gupta + 2 more
    • English
    Nitric Oxide in Plant Resilience to Abiotic Stress, the latest release in the Plant Gasotransmitters and Molecules with Hormonal Activity series, offers a detailed examination of this essential gasotransmitter’s pivotal role in bolstering plant defenses against environmental stressors. The book investigates the molecular mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO) biosynthesis and signaling, emphasizing how post-translational modifications like S-nitrosylation and tyrosine nitration govern key targets to activate adaptive stress responses. It systematically examines NO’s properties, detection techniques, and its regulation under both optimal and adverse conditions, providing a comprehensive understanding of how it modulates plant functions.Expanding beyond fundamental processes, the volume highlights NO’s crucial involvement across a spectrum of abiotic stresses—drought, salinity, temperature extremes, heavy metals, and UV radiation—unveiling its capacity to mitigate damage and strengthen plant resilience. It also discusses the crosstalk between NO and other signaling molecules, such as phytohormones and emerging growth regulators, revealing synergistic pathways that underpin sustainable agriculture.
  • Postharvest Loss and Waste Management of Horticultural Produce

    From Farm to Fork
    • 1st Edition
    • Zahra H. Mohammad + 2 more
    • English
    Postharvest Loss and Waste Management of Horticultural Produce: From Farm to Fork addresses the major challenges and root causes of postharvest losses while also presenting solutions to reduce losses using innovative technologies. Sections introduce an overview of postharvest challenges, such as postharvest handling, storage, and transportation of fruits, vegetables, and berries, along with the impact of COVID-19 on postharvest losses. Other sections cover postharvest biological issues and control, such as postharvest diseases and microbiology issues of produce, novel technologies for reducing postharvest loss and waste in horticulture, like biological control, packaging, MAP films, etc., and mitigation strategies. A final section explores the environmental, economic, and social impact of postharvest losses across the food supply chain. Edited by a team of experts in the field, this is an excellent resource that brings sustainable solutions to reduce postharvest losses on a global level. Attracting a wider audience in the fields of food engineering and technology, as well as professionals, researchers, and academicians working in the fields of postharvest losses and their management, this book will be a welcomed resource.
  • Insect Proteins as Sustainable Food Ingredients

    Nutrition, Processing and Consumer Acceptance
    • 1st Edition
    • Ronghai He
    • English
    In the quest for sustainable food solutions alternative to traditional proteins, insects are emerging as a compelling option. Insect Proteins as Sustainable Food Ingredients: Nutrition, Processing and Consumer Acceptance, explores the nutritional composition of various insect species from around the world such as the black soldier fly, cricket, mealworm and silkworm, and sheds light on their high protein, low-carbon, low emission, sustainable environmental benefits while providing insight into nutrition and health. With consumers more likely to eat processed insect products rather than whole body insects, Insect Proteins as Sustainable Food Ingredients: Nutrition, Processing and Consumer Acceptance, examines insect protein extract as a raw materials and how it can significantly reduce consumers’ negative perception of insects as a food source. Experts in the filed introduce readers to the production and processing of insect protein flours, concentrates, isolates and hydrolysates and highlight the defatting, grinding, purification, drying and extraction technologies for insect proteins to be used for product innovation. Also addressed are flavor and sensory properties and ways to measure consumer acceptance of insect-based products. The book concludes by reviewing potential safety and allergy concerns and provides suggestions on how to establish a food safety regulatory framework.
  • The Journey from Cocoa to Chocolate

    Preserving Flavor and Bioactive Compounds
    • 1st Edition
    • Ravi Pandiselvam + 1 more
    • English
    Cocoa beans contain huge sources of phytochemicals that act as both flavor agents and bioactiove compounds. Care must be taken in the processing of coccoa into chopcolate in order to maintain cocoa's natural health benefits while enhancing flavor to create the sweet treat we know and love. The Journey from Cocoa to Chocolate: Preserving Flavor and Bioactive Compounds provides an end-to-end review of different pre-processing and processing methods their effects on the nutritional, physiochemical, sensorial properties, and health benefits of the cocoa. Readers will explore the journey from cocoa beans to chocolate in depth, including recent advances in processing techniques, and the utilization of cocoa by-products for improved sustainability and waste reduction. The Journey from Cocoa to Chocolate: Preserving Flavor and Bioactive Compounds is an exciting new resource the emphasizes the untapped potential of cocoa and it's beneficial components, as well as processing techniques to retain them without sacrificing sensorial properties. Readers from academia, research, food science, and the chocloate industry will benefit from this new resource.
  • The Honey Bee and Climate Change

    • 1st Edition
    • Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman
    • English
    A honey bee colony is a community of interacting organisms continually adjusting their behaviors, both individually and collectively, in response to even the subtlest changes in the environment. It’s only logical then, that the more significant changes and stressors due to climate change will push the colony to its limits, disrupting the delicate balance of the hive and threatening the survival of the colony. Honey Bees and Climate Change is the first and only book to examine the responses of honey bees to climate change and the threat it poses to their ability to thrive and survive. Drawing on systems science and the central theme that all outcomes are products of an interconnected system, the book will address how climate change is affecting honey bee nutrition, growth, and overwinter survival, which in turn threaten commercial beekeeping and crop production. Impacts on other pollinators will be touched on as well. Finally, potential mitigating strategies, key areas of action, and the future outlook will be covered.Written by a leading scientist with over 40 years of experience studying honey bee physiology, nutrition, colony survival, and the impact of climate change on the colony, Honey Bees and Climate Change is crucial reading for students and researchers studying honey bees, especially those with an interest in the impacts of climate change on pollinators. The inclusion of key terms and definitions as well as case studies make this work an excellent supplementary text for courses on honey bee biology, apiculture, pollinator conservation, or climate change ecology.
  • Aquaculture with Artificial Intelligence

    Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Industry Development
    • 1st Edition
    • Baskaralingam Vaseeharan + 3 more
    • English
    Aquaculture with Artificial Intelligence: Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Industry Development will play in aquaculture and aquaculture-adjacent sectors in the coming years. The aquaculture industry faces various challenges, including environmental concerns, disease management, and resource optimization, and integrating AI into aquaculture practices can improve industry efficiency, sustainability, and overall productivity. This book explores how AI technologies such as machine learning for predictive analytics, computer vision for monitoring aquatic environments, and robotics for automated tasks can streamline various aspects of aquaculture requiring monitoring, management, and decision-making. Aquaculture with Artificial Intelligence: Smart Aquaculture is co-authored by a diverse team of experts bridging disciplines in aquaculture, aquatic immunology, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence. Early chapters provide a thorough introduction to the aquaculture industry to provide critical context for all audiences. Central chapters explore machine learning, bioimaging, drone technology, bioengineering, OMICs technologies, big data, and other AI technologies emerging in aquaculture. Global case studies highlight the practical applications of AI to various aspects of aquaculture operations, including automated feeding, water quality monitoring, disease protection, and precision aquaculture. The book concludes with a look to the future of the industry, research gaps, and opportunities for continued research. This is an essential read for aquaculturists, environmental scientists, data scientists, and roboticists interested in the intersection of aquaculture and AI.