Starch and Starchy Food Products : Improving Human Health

Starch is one of the main staples in human food, its consumption having both positive and negative aspects. The exploration and exploitation of starches from alternative botanical sources has been increasing recently due to interest in the economic and social development of tropical and sub-tropical regional economies and in support of sustainability. The book reviews existing research on various aspects of starch, including physicochemical, nutritional and functional properties, plus applications in addition to foods. Emphasis is on the various physical and chemical modifications, which are aimed at improving the properties and applicability of starch.

Key Features

• Analyzes the state of the art of the scientific and technological problems associated with starch
• Describes various applications of starch in foods
• Provides a broad view on the field of starch and starchy foods

Luis A. Bello-Perez, Ph.D, is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Technological Development, Center for Development of Biotic Products at National Polytechnic Institute. He supervises research of graduate students and visiting scholars and work closely with local and global research and education. He received Bachelor in Biochemical Engineering at Acapulco Institute of Technology, Master in Bioengineering and Ph.D in Plant Biotechnology from CINVESTAV. He also worked as a post-doctoral research fellow at National Institute of Agronomic Research, and sabbatical year at Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research. His research interest is on Starch: chemistry, technology and digestibility, with emphasis in starch from non-conventional sources. His research included the development of healthy foods, mainly bakery products, snacks and pasta with high dietary fiber content and gluten-free products. Bello-Perez has published 355 peer-reviewed research papers, 22 book chapters, and many other reviews and abstracts. He is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, and Cereals & Grains Association. Associate Editor of Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, Cereal Chemistry, LWT.

Jose Alvarez-Ramirez, Ph.D., is a full-time professor of Chemical Engineering at Universidad Autonoma Metropolita, Campus Iztapalapa, at Mexico City. He supervises research of graduate students and visiting scholars and work closely with local and global research and education. He received Bachelor in Chemical Engineering at Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Campus Iztapalapa. He was a visiting researcher at Exxon Research and Engineering Company, Annandale, New Jersey, in 1992, and was on sabbatical year at Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo, Mexico City in 2002. His major research interest is on chemical process dynamics and control, and on food science. Special research interest is on starch properties, functionality and applications in food technology. The development of healthy foods, including bakery products, snacks and pasta with high dietary fiber content and gluten-free products is the main focus of his research group. He has published about 400 peer-reviewed research papers.

Sushil Dhital, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Monash University, Australia. Sushil completed his PhD at the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia, in 2011, elucidating the structure-property relations of starch granules, and after which he accepted a research fellow position at UQ, examining the starch-plant cell wall interactions. Sushil joined Monash University in July 2019. He currently serves as Editor for the journal Carbohydrate Polymers and is on the Editorial Board of journals Food Hydrocolloids, Food Chemistry, and Bioactive Carbohydrates and Dietary Fibre. He also serves as the Vice President of The Australasian Grain Science Association (AGSA). Sushil carries out fundamental and applied research on elucidating the structure-property-function-health relationships of food and food ingredients. His stronghold and research interest are in relating the plant molecular structures to macroscopic properties relevant to food, health, and product development. He uses cross-disciplinary approaches drawing from physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. He uses various in vitro and in-vivo models to elucidate the fundamental mechanisms beyond the nutritional and processing functionality of food and food ingredients. Sushil has published more than 100 peer review research and review articles exceeding 4500 citations.