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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.

    • Improving the Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Fresh Meat

      • 1st Edition
      • January 22, 2009
      • Joseph Kerry
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 1 8 4 5 6 9 3 4 3 5
      • eBook
        9 7 8 1 8 4 5 6 9 5 4 3 9
      Understanding of the scientific basis of quality attributes in meat is becoming more advanced, providing more effective approaches to the control of meat eating and technological quality. This important collection reviews essential knowledge of the mechanisms underlying quality characteristics and methods to improve meat sensory and nutritional quality.Part one analyses the scientific basis of meat quality attributes, such as texture and tenderness, colour, water-holding capacity and flavour development. Chapters on the nutritional quality of meat and meat sensory evaluation complete the section. Part two discusses significant insights into the biology of meat quality obtained from genomic and proteomic perspectives, with chapters focussing on different types of meat. Parts three and four then review production and processing strategies to optimise meat quality, considering aspects such as production practices and meat nutritional quality, dietary antioxidants and antimicrobials, carcass interventions, chilling and freezing and packaging. Methods of meat grading and quality analysis are also included.With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Improving the sensory and nutritional quality of fresh meat is a standard reference for those industrialists and academics interested in optimising meat quality.
    • Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates

      • 3rd Edition
      • November 12, 2009
      • James H. Thorp + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 4 8 5 5 3
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 8 8 9 8 1 8
      The Third Edition of Ecology and Classification of North American Freshwater Invertebrates continues the tradition of in-depth coverage of the biology, ecology, phylogeny, and identification of freshwater invertebrates from the USA and Canada. This edition is in color for the first time and includes greatly expanded classification of many phyla.
    • Genetically Modified Plants

      • 1st Edition
      • July 7, 2009
      • Roger Hull + 2 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 4 1 0 6 6
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 0 7 6 4
      A transgenic organism is a plant, animal, bacterium, or other living organism that has had a foreign gene added to it by means of genetic engineering. Transgenic plants can arise by natural movement of genes between species, by cross-pollination based hybridization between different plant species (which is a common event in flowering plant evolution), or by laboratory manipulations by artificial insertion of genes from another species. Methods used in traditional breeding that generate transgenic plants by non-recombinant methods are widely familiar to professional plant scientists, and serve important roles in securing a sustainable future for agriculture by protecting crops from pest and helping land and water to be used more efficiently.There is worldwide interest in the biosafety issues related to transgenic crops because of issues such as increased pesticide use, increased crop and weed resistance to pesticides, gene flow to related plant species, negative effects on nontarget organisms, and reduced crop and ecosystem diversity. This book is intended to provide the basic information for a wide range of people involved in the release of transgenic crops. These will include scientists and researchers in the initial stage of developing transgenic products, industrialists, and decision makers. It will be of particular interest to plant scientists taking up biotechnological approaches to agricultural improvement for developing nations.
    • Plant Cell Biology

      • 1st Edition
      • September 8, 2009
      • Randy O. Wayne
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 4 2 3 3 9
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 1 2 7 3
      Plant Cell Biology is a semester long course for undergraduates and graduate students which integrates mathematics and physics, two years of chemistry, genetics, biochemistry and evolution disciplines. Having taught this course for over ten years, the author uses his expertise to relate the background established in plant anatomy, plant physiology, plant growth and development, plant taxonomy, plant biochemistry, and plant molecular biology courses to plant cell biology. This integration attempts to break down the barrier so plant cell biology is seen as an entrée into higher science.Distinguishi... this book from papers that are often used for teaching the subject which use a single plant to demonstrate the techniques of molecular biology, this book covers all aspects of plant cell biology without emphasizing any one plant, organelle, molecule, or technique. Although most examples are biased towards plants, basic similarities between all living eukaryotic cells (animal and plant) are recognized and used to best illustrate for students cell processes.
    • Food Security, Poverty and Nutrition Policy Analysis

      • 1st Edition
      • April 6, 2009
      • Suresh Babu + 1 more
      • English
      • Paperback
        9 7 8 0 3 2 3 1 6 3 5 3 8
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 8 7 8 8 6 7
      Food Security, Poverty and Nutrition Analysis provides essential insights into the evaluative techniques necessary for creating appropriate and effective policies and programs to address these worldwide issues. Food scientists and nutritionists will use this important information, presented in a conceptual framework and through case studies for exploring representative problems, identifying and implementing appropriate methods of measurement and analysis, understanding examples of policy applications, and gaining valuable insight into the multidisciplinary requirements of successful implementation.This book provides core information in a format that provides not only the concept behind the method, but real-world applications giving the reader valuable, practical knowledge.
    • Desert Olive Oil Cultivation

      • 1st Edition
      • May 26, 2009
      • Zeev Wiesman
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 4 2 5 7 5
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 1 4 2 6
      Due to the adverse stress conditions typical of olive cultivation in desert conditions, the olive tree is responding with production of high levels of antioxidant substances. Among these substances are polyphenols, tocopherols, and phytosterols. Studies have shown that saline irrigated varieties of olives have demonstrated advantages over those irrigated with tap water. This is just one of the aspects of desert cultivation of olives that is covered in Desert Olive Oil Advanced Biotechnologies. Based on 20 years of research, the book expounds on the appropriate selection of olive varieties with high productivity and oil quality, the impact of foliar nutrition on decreasing alternate bearing and increasing fruit quality, improving efficiency of mechanical harvesting, and increasing efficiency of oil extraction and oil quality regulating analysis.
    • Bioactive Foods in Promoting Health

      • 1st Edition
      • October 19, 2009
      • Ronald Ross Watson + 1 more
      • English
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 8 7 7 8 7 7
      While everyone knows fruits and vegetables are beneficial to good health, it's increasingly seen as important to know which ones can be effective in treating specific illnesses. For example, which are good for cardiac care? Which can help combat and treat asthma? What are the safety concerns to be aware of when using herbs in combination with traditional medicines?Diet and nutrition are vital keys to controlling or promoting morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases, and the multitude of biomolecules in dietary fruits and vegetables play a crucial role in health maintenance. They may, therefore, be more effective and certainly could have different actions beyond nutrients however this science is still evolving. This book brings together experts working on the different aspects of supplementation, foods, and plant extracts, in health promotion and disease prevention. Their expertise and experience provide the most current knowledge to promote future research. Dietary habits need to be altered, for most people and the conclusions and recommendations from the various chapters in this book will provide a basis for that change.The overall goal of this book is to provide the most current, concise, scientific appraisal of the efficacy of key foods and constituents medicines in dietary plants in preventing disease and improving the quality of life. While vegetables have traditionally been seen to be good sources of vitamins, the roles of other constituents have only recently become more widely recognized. This book reviews and often presents new hypotheses and conclusions on the effects of different bioactive components of the diet, derived particularly from vegetables, to prevent disease and improve the health of various populations.
    • Kingdoms and Domains

      • 1st Edition
      • March 19, 2009
      • Lynn Margulis + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 3 6 2 1 5
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 0 1 4 6
      Now published by Academic Press and revised from the author's previous Five Kingdoms Third edition, this extraordinary, all inclusive catalogue of the world’s living organisms describes the diversity of the major groups, or phyla, of nature’s most inclusive taxa. Developed after consultation with specialists, this modern classification scheme is consistent both with the fossil record and with recent molecular, morphological and metabolic data. Generously illustrated, now in full color, Kingdoms and Domains is remarkably easy to read. It accesses the full range of life forms that still inhabit our planet and logically and explicitly classifies them according to their evolutionary relationships. Definitive characteristics of each phylum are professionally described in ways that, unlike most scientific literature, profoundly respect the needs of educators, students and nature lovers. This work is meant to be of interest to all evolutionists as well as to conservationists, ecologists, genomicists, geographers, microbiologists, museum curators, oceanographers, paleontologists and especially nature lovers whether artists, gardeners or environmental activists.Kingdoms and Domains is a unique and indispensable reference for anyone intrigued by a planetary phenomenon: the spectacular diversity of life, both microscopic and macroscopic, as we know it only on Earth today.
    • Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology

      • 1st Edition
      • June 23, 2009
      • Jaspreet Singh + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 3 7 4 3 4 9 7
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 1 9 1 4
      Developments in potato chemistry, including identification and use of the functional components of potatoes, genetic improvements and modifications that increase their suitability for food and non-food applications, the use of starch chemistry in non-food industry and methods of sensory and objective measurement have led to new and important uses for this crop. Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology presents the most current information available in one convenient resource.The expert coverage includes details on findings related to potato composition, new methods of quality determination of potato tubers, genetic and agronomic improvements, use of specific potato cultivars and their starches, flours for specific food and non-food applications, and quality measurement methods for potato products.
    • Starch

      • 3rd Edition
      • March 30, 2009
      • James N. BeMiller + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 1 2 7 4 6 2 7 5 2
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 6 5 5 1
      The third edition of this long-serving successful reference work is a 'must-have' reference for anyone needing or desiring an understanding of the structure, chemistry, properties, production and uses of starches and their derivatives.