This book discusses the scope and limitations of the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of foods as medicines or medicinal coadjuvants in traditional Indian herbal therapies. The first chapter introduces readers to the relevance of the Ayurveda system, its holistic classification approach, applications of selected herbs and the demonstrable efficacy of herbal extracts in terms of antimicrobial susceptibility. In turn, the second chapter discusses the antimicrobial properties and kinetic mechanisms of inhibition ascribed to selected vegetable extracts. The third chapter addresses the antioxidant power of phenolic compounds from vegetable products and herbal extracts. The book closes with a review of natural antioxidant agents' role in the treatment of metabolic disorders. Written from an Indian perspective, this book unravels the chemistry of the traditional Indian diet and its impact on health. Further, it can serve as a reference for other traditional products with similar health claims.

This book reviews the authenticity of certain Street Food specialties from the viewpoint of food chemists. At present, the food market clearly shows the predominance of fast-food operators in many Western countries. However, the concomitant presence of the traditional lifestyle model known as the Mediterranean Diet in Europe has also been increasingly adopted in many countries, in some cases with unforeseen effects such as offering Mediterranean-like foods for out-of-home consumption. This commercial strategy also includes the so-called Street Food, which is marketed as a variation on Mediterranean foods. One of the best known versions of Street Food products can be found in Sicily, Italy, and particularly in its largest city, Palermo. Because of certain authenticity issues, the Italian National Council of Research Chemists has issued four procedural guidelines for various Palermo specialties with the aim of attaining the traditional specialty guaranteed status in accordance with European Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. The first chapter of the book provides a brief introduction to the general concept of Street Foods. The remaining four chapters describe four food specialties - Arancina, Sfincionello, Pane ca meusa, and Pane e panelle - typically produced in Palermo, with particular reference to their chemical composition, identification of raw materials from a chemical viewpoint, permissible cooking and preparation procedures (with chemical explanations), preservation, and storage. The book offers a unique guide to Street Food authenticity, and can also serve as a reference work for other traditional/historical products.

This book presents the concept of food sharing from a European perspective, and provides a concise analysis of its safety implications and the chemical properties of recovered foods. In our modern world, 33% of the total food produced is lost each year, with serious economic, environmental and social consequences. Food worth approximately 1 trillion USD is wasted per year, and it is estimated that this wasted food could feed more than 3.4 billion people. Considering that 1/10 of the global population still does not have enough money for basic needs, and in view of the impact of consumer behaviour, food retailers and industry in food waste, food sharing appears to be an attractive solution, and several communities have recently been created with the main goal of saving food and giving it to those in need. Despite the positive impact of food sharing, it also raises concerns since recovered foods are subject to spoilage, decay and irreversible chemical-physical transformations. In this book, the authors explore the current situation and the regulatory definition of food sharing in various European countries, presenting the German experience in the city of Magdeburg, where food-sharing networks have been implemented. They also discuss the chemical and safety evaluations of durable foods, and provide a simulation of food waste by comparing a food product with the same food produced with re-worked and still edible raw materials (recovered foods).