Food Applications of Nanotechnology, Volume 88, consolidates the literature on recent developments in nanotechnology, addressing production, safety and nutritional aspects pertaining to foods and nutraceuticals. Chapters in this new release include Assembled protein nanoparticles in food and nutrition applications, Nano-scale carbohydrate Materials in food/nutrition/agricultural applications, Nanotechnology-based colloidal delivery systems in foods, Electrospinning and Electrospraying in food, Bioavailability of nanotechnology-based bioactives and nutraceuticals, and more.

Natural gums are polysaccharides consisting of multiple sugar units linked together via glycosidic linkages. Most natural gums reveal appropriate safety for oral consumption in the form of food additives or drug carriers. Challenges related to the utilization of natural polysaccharides, however, include uncontrolled rates of hydration, pH dependent solubility, viscosity reduction during storage, and weak interfacial properties. Modification provides an efficient route for not only removing such drawbacks but also improving physicochemical properties, such as solubility, viscosity and swelling index, and introducing new properties for varied applications.This book provides a comprehensive review of the various modifications on gums to make them suitable for food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The book is divided in four parts: an introduction to natural gums followed by in-depth coverage of chemical modification, physical modification, and enzymatic modification of gums. Each chapter includes reaction mechanisms, physicochemical properties, rheological properties, interfacial properties, applications and future perspectives. Presenting a succinct account on gum modification from a practical point of view, this book is a helpful reference for academic and industrial scientists and engineers in food technology, materials chemistry, pharmaceuticals, chemical, industrial, and applied engineering, biochemistry, and biopolymers.

'A brilliant book [that] shows a way out of the destructive trap of Anthropocentric arrogance.' Vandana Shiva, from the Foreword Biocivilisations is a fascinating, original and important exploration into how complex civilisations existed on Earth long before humans. What is life? This is arguably the most important question in all of science. Many scientists believe life can be reduced to ‘mechanistic’ factors, such as genes and information codes. Everything can be sequenced and explained. But in a world as rich and complex as this one, can such an assertion really be true? A growing army of scientists, philosophers and artists do not share this mechanistic vision for the science of life. The gene metaphor is not only too simplistic but also misleading. If there is a way to reduce life to a single principle, how does that principle acknowledge the creativity of life that turns both genetic and information determinism on their heads? Biocivilisations is a groundbreaking book exploring the mysteries of life and its deep uncertainty. Dr Predrag Slijep�ević turns anthropocentric scientific thinking on its head, showing how the humble bacteria created the equivalent of cities and connected them with information highways, bringing our planet to life three thousand million years ago. He explains how bacteria, amoebas, plants, insects, birds, whales, elephants and countless other species not only preceded human beings but also demonstrate elements of complex civilisation – communication, agriculture, science, art, medicine and more – that we associate with human achievement. More than 99.99 percent of life on Earth has existed without humanity, and life will continue without humans long into the future. Biocivilisations is an important rethinking of the current scientific paradigm. It challenges us to reconsider the limited scope and time-window of our current ‘scientific revolution’ and to fundamentally reimagine what we call ‘life on Earth’.

This text comprehensively covers the rituals, traditions and receipts of ancestral processes of bread making from multiple countries, including the scientific and technological character of the science of bread making and sourdough biotechnology. Individual chapters cover the scientific aspects of bread making in different cultures and traditions as well as the technological phenomena occurring during the bread making process, utilizing the full network of SOURDOMICS from the COST initiative. Pictures and illustrations are used to explain the science behind bread making processes and the cultural, historical and traditional elements associated with bread making in multiple countries. Authored by bread making experts from the breadth of Europe, the process of bread fermentation in each country and region is covered in detail. The traditions surrounding bread making are simply the empirical know-how passed between generations, and this book's main purpose is to perpetuate these traditions and know-how. Provides a description of the culture of European peoples with respect to the technology of bread making and sourdough biotechnology; Explains the process of bread fermentation using simple language combined with scientific rigor; High quality pictures and illustrations enrich the scientific and cultural elements mentioned in each chapter.

Extremophiles are organisms that live in extreme conditions. Their ability of surviving in extreme environments is due to their unique physiological and genetic adaptations. Extremophiles are harnessed for their extremozymes that have wide applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutics and industry. Recent developments in genomics and proteomics have helped unravel the mechanism of survival, physiological adaptation and genomics structure of extremophiles. This book covers the latest developments in understanding the physiology and biochemistry of extremophiles. It gives a complete idea about the microorganisms in these groups along with their biotechnological applications and also discusses the molecular genomics and molecular aspects of the extremophiles. It also presents detailed aspects related to newer applications of extremophiles in the industry will also be covered. The study of extremophiles is gaining wide interest and this book bridges the critical gap in knowledge related to extremophiles. This book is essential to anyone who is interested in studying the microbiology, biochemistry and application of these microorganisms.

The present book embodies 15 s viz. Preparation of different liquid and solid media, isolation techniques for soil, air, water and seed borne microbes, micrometry, microbial growth, Ames test, assay of antibiotics, antibiotics sensitivity test, bacterial transformation, IMVIC test, growth curve of coliphage, culture techniques from body fluids, acid and alcoholic fermentation and each of which includes protocol of several microbiological practicals prescribed in the syllabi of graduate and post graduate courses of microbiology, biochemistry and biotechnology. Besides these, the book also contains the methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of air, soil and water borne pathogenic and non-pathogenic microbes and agriculturally important microbes. Authors have prepared this MS with a view to provide laboratory techniques to all categories of UG and PG students to carryout laboratory assignments prescribed in their syllabi. For the convenience and better understanding, most of the methods have been described with help of flow chart and sketches. Authors are confident that the present book will certainly be very useful to learn and handle different type of microbiological experiments in the laboratory.

This book provides an in-depth overview on the manifold functions of fungal extracellular vesicles (EV) which span from cell-to-cell communication, pathogenicity and stimulation of host's immunity to export of hundreds of biomolecules. The book summarizes the present knowledge on the impact of extracellular vesicles on fungal biology. Extracellular vesicles participate in fundamental biological processes in all living cells but only during the last 15 years the production and functions of EVs were identified and studied in fungal species too. Up to date more than 50 independent studies have shown that extracellular vesicles are produced by at least 20 fungal species. The book addresses researchers and advanced students in Microbiology, Mycology and Biotechnology.

This book introduces the Chinese boletes, including the history, ecological and economic values, as well as the geographical distribution patterns with a highlight on the Tylopilus species. Species in Tylopilus s.l. are not only of important ecological values but also of scientific interests. They are very diverse in morphology, complex in structure and wide in ecological niches. China is one of the diverse hotspots of boletes, and many boletes were traditionally treated as members of Tylopilus based on hymenophore or spore-print colour. The studies revealed that the traditionally defined Tylopilus is polyphyletic. This book aims to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among the genera treated in Tylopilus s.l. previously; to delimit and recognize the taxa, and finally to reveal the diversity of the genera and species of Tylopilus s.l. in China. The book is intended to be a reference for biologists who conduct investigations of biological resources and biodiversity; university and college teachers and students carrying out studies in related fields; mycologists and amateur mycologists, or people who interested in mushrooms taxonomy and systematics; and workers in the development of non-timber forest products.

Somatic genome manipulation is required when a sexual crossing approach cannot be used in breeding or genetic treatment of an individual organism. Examples can include gene- or cell-therapy of a person to correct disease, genetic improvement of vegetatively propagated plants, and genetic replacement of cytoplasm without significantly modifying the nuclear genome. The advantage of somatic genome manipulation is maintenance of the general genotype while correcting one or more traits. Somatic genome manipulation is also an option for genetic improvement of sexually propagated plants in polyploidy breeding or in overcoming issues of sexual incompatibility. Recent novel technologies in somatic genome manipulation are developing quickly but much of this literature is fragmented and difficult or inconvenient to access. This book represents the first attempt to assemble updated reviews, detailed protocols, and their applications in all fields in which somatic genome manipulation has thrived. This is a truely one-of-a-kind work that brings together the most important and relevant advances in somatic genome manipulation in plants, algae, microorganisms, humans and animals, and demonstrates where the science interacts and where it diverges. The chapters are written by experts on the topic with ready-to-use protocols that were originally developed or adapted from the literature in their laboratories. We expect that this book will be useful for students, researchers, and teachers in both plant and animal research as a resource for the latest information on somatic genome manipulation and for its useful laboratory methods.

Microorganisms are ubiquitous and indispensable for the existence of mankind. They show diversity in size, shape, metabolism and the range of positive functions they perform for sustaining the life on this planet. Bacteria have been exploited by the mankind since times immemorial for the production of various foods and enzymes. They reveal several types of metabolic reactions which are absent in eukaryotic organisms. The present book highlights the potential of microorganisms in solving the global energy crisis. Presently, the world is facing energy crisis due to depleting fossil fuels which are expected to get exhausted during the next 50 yeaOne of the alternative energy resources for the new millennium is expected to be the renewable energy including biomass from which a variety of biofuels can be obtained by the exploitation of microbes. This volume has been organized in 13 s which have been prepared to provide the readers with both an in-depth study and a broad perspective of microorganisms for sustainability of mankind. Further, it makes the readers familiar with the diversity in energy generating pathways among different groups of microorganisms and different types of biomass energy resources available on this planet and the various possibilities which can be exploited for converting these in to alternate energy sources with the help of microbes. A great effort has been made to provide the readers a comprehensive knowledge about different alternative fuels and value added products from microbes for the 21st century. It is hoped that this volume will prove useful to the students and professionals who are pursuing their career in Microbiology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Environmental sciences and Energy studies related to the alternate biofuels to solve the global energy crisis.

The book is written for the college students to provide wide information about the fundamental aspects of microbiology. The book is designed in such a manner to understand all the basics, principles and recent trends in the field of microbiology. Enough diagrams and pictures are given then and there to understand the chapteIt also covers new concepts in microbiology such as environmental microbiology and biotechnology etc.