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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.

  • Seaweed in Health and Disease Prevention

    • 1st Edition
    • April 5, 2016
    • Joël Fleurence + 1 more
    • English
    Seaweed in Health and Disease Prevention presents the potential usage of seaweed, macroalgae, and their extracts for enhancing health and disease. The book explores the possibilities in a comprehensive way, including outlining how seaweed can be used as a source of macronutrients and micronutrients, as well as nutraceuticals. The commercial value of seaweed for human consumption is increasing year-over-year, and some countries harvest several million tons annually. This text lays out the properties and effects of seaweeds and their use in the food industry, offering a holistic view of the ability of seaweed to impact or effect angiogenesis, tumors, diabetes and glucose control, oxidative stress, fungal infections, inflammation and infection, the gut, and the liver.
  • Phenotyping Crop Plants for Physiological and Biochemical Traits

    • 1st Edition
    • March 31, 2016
    • P. Sudhakar + 2 more
    • English
    Phenotyping Crop Plants for Physiological and Biochemical Traits presents a proven range of methodologies and practices for effective, efficient, and appropriate typing of crop plants. By addressing the basic principles and precautions needed when conducting crop-based experiments, this book guides the reader in selecting the appropriate method based on the growing environment, whether greenhouse, pot, field, or liquid (hydroponic). By addressing the quantification of seed traits related to growth experiments, including their viability and vigor, this book presents methodology options for optimum yield based on potential abiotic stresses.
  • Integrating the Packaging and Product Experience in Food and Beverages

    A Road-Map to Consumer Satisfaction
    • 1st Edition
    • March 31, 2016
    • Peter Burgess
    • English
    Integrating the Packaging and Product Experience in Food and Beverages: A Road-Map to Consumer Satisfaction focuses on the interrelationship between packaging and the product experience. In both industry and academia there has been a growing interest in investigating approaches that capture consumer responses to products that go beyond traditional sensory and liking measures. These approaches include assessing consumers' emotional responses, obtaining temporal measures of liking, as well as numerous published articles considering the effect of situation and context in the evaluation of food and beverage products. For fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products in particular, packaging can be considered as a contributor to consumer satisfaction. Recent cross-modal research illustrated consumers’ dissatisfaction or delight with a product can be evoked when there is dissonance between the packaging and the product experience. The book includes an extensive overview of an adapted satisfaction scale that has been tailored for the food and beverage sector and which identifies varying satisfaction response modes such as contentment, pleasure, and delight with a product. This is an important development as it provides insights about products that can be used to market specific categories and brands of foods and beverages. The book demonstrates the value of this approach by bringing together case studies that consider the interrelationships between packaging design, shape, on-pack sensory messages, expectations, and consumer satisfaction with the product.
  • Genomes and Evolution of Charophytes, Bryophytes, Lycophytes and Ferns

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 78
    • March 21, 2016
    • English
    Advances in Botanical Research publishes in-depth and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of topics in plant sciences. The series features several reviews by recognized experts on all aspects of plant genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, physiology, and ecology. Volume 78 focuses on the Genomes and Evolution of Charophytes, Bryophytes, Lycophytes, and Ferns. Sequencing of genomes of ‘lower’ animals such as sponges or hydrozoans has much informed our understanding of how metazoans evolved. On the plant side of things, sequencing and comparison of a moss and lycophyte genome with those of green algae and flowering plants has greatly informed our understanding of plant evolution. However, it has also become clear that we need to look into genomes of the closest algal relatives to land plants, the charophytes, and into further genomes of bryophytes, lycophytes, and ferns to unravel how land plants evolved.
  • Biotransformation of Agricultural Waste and By-Products

    The Food, Feed, Fibre, Fuel (4F) Economy
    • 1st Edition
    • March 1, 2016
    • Palmiro Poltronieri + 1 more
    • English
    Biotransformation of Agricultural Waste and By-Products in the 4F Economy: The Food, Feed, Fiber, Fuel (4F) Economy presents an evaluation of plant species better exploitable for a particular transformation. As crops are already covering large parts of cultivable soils, is it is not conceivable to try to extend the cultures beyond the limit of available soils, but a further increase in productivity is not easy to obtain. The book discusses advances in technology and plants design which support the exploitation and valorization of vegetable and fruit by-products through fermentation (feed-batch liquid fermentation, solid-state fermentation) in bio-based bio-chemicals/biofue... production. Pathways in the biosynthesis of fibers, sugars, and metabolites are provided with a focus on the lifecycle of bacteria, yeasts, and even plant species. The text analyzes cellular structures and the organization of cell walls in order to show which polysaccharides offer more favorable fermentative processes and which are detrimental.
  • Advances in Food and Nutrition Research

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 77
    • February 29, 2016
    • English
    Advances in Food and Nutrition Research recognizes the integral relationship between the food and nutritional sciences, bringing together outstanding and comprehensive reviews that highlight this relationship. The book contains contributions that detail scientific developments in the broad areas of food science and nutrition, providing those in academia and industry with the latest information on emerging research in these constantly evolving sciences.
  • Nitric Oxide and Signaling in Plants

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 77
    • February 25, 2016
    • English
    Advances in Botanical Research publishes in-depth and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of topics in plant sciences. Currently in its 77th volume, the series features several reviews by recognized experts on all aspects of plant genetics, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, physiology and ecology.
  • Industrial Oil Crops

    • 1st Edition
    • February 23, 2016
    • Thomas McKeon + 3 more
    • English
    Industrial Oil Crops presents the latest information on important products derived from seed and other plant oils, their quality, the potential environmental benefit, and the latest trends in industrial uses. This book provides a comprehensive view of key oil crops that provide products used for fuel, surfactants, paints and coatings, lubricants, high-value polymers, safe plasticizers and numerous other products, all of which compete effectively with petroleum-derived products for quality and cost. Specific products derived from oil crops are a principle concern, and other fundamental aspects of developing oil crops for industrial uses are also covered. These include improvement through traditional breeding, and molecular, tissue culture and genetic engineering contributions to breeding, as well as practical aspects of what is needed to bring a new or altered crop to market. As such, this book provides a handbook for developing products from renewable resources that can replace those currently derived from petroleum. Led by an international team of expert editors, this book will be a valuable asset for those in product research and development as well as basic plant research related to oil crops.
  • Advances in Applied Microbiology

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 94
    • February 23, 2016
    • English
    Published since 1959, Advances in Applied Microbiology continues to be one of the most widely read and authoritative review sources in microbiology. The series contains comprehensive reviews of the most current research in applied microbiology, and includes recent research on the roles of fungal communities in soil nutrient recycling, the microbial nitrogen cycle in soil, and the inter-kingdom associations between soil bacteria, fungi, and mycorrhizal fungi.
  • Electronic Noses and Tongues in Food Science

    • 1st Edition
    • February 12, 2016
    • Maria Luz Rodriguez Mendez
    • English
    Electronic Noses and Tongues in Food Science describes the electronic products of advanced chemical and physical sciences combined with intuitive integration of microprocessors, advanced bioinformatics and statistics. These include, for example, voltammetric, bio-electronic, piezoelectric platforms made from a variety of components including, nanoparticles, enzyme biosensors, heavy metals, graphite-epoxy composites, metal oxide semiconductors, microelectrodes, microfluidic channels, pre-manufactured gas sensors, redox enzymes and others and is an ideal resource for understanding and utilizing their power in Food Science settings. Devices used to analyse one particular food item can theoretically be adapted for other food items or components. This does not just mean the re-deploying the physical platforms but also the mode of bioinformatic and statistical analysis. This includes artificial neural networks (ANN), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), partial least squares (PLS), principal component analysis (PCA) etc. In other words, there is cross transference of chemistry, physics, concepts, techniques, findings and approaches from one food to another. Electronic noses and tongues are two of these devices but are advancing in application and importance. This book provides examples of the use of electronic noses and tongues to characterise components that contribute to sensory or compositional profiles, from ripening to harvesting and from storage of raw materials to packaging and consumption. These devises are suitable for high-throughput analysis, quality control or to determine the nature and extent of spoilage and adulteration, and have also been used to ascertain the geographical origins of food and mixtures.