Functional Foods and
Dietary Supplements

Growing evidence supports the observation that functional foods containing physiologically active components, either from plant or animal sources, may enhance health.
Health-conscious consumers are increasingly seeking out functional foods in an effort
to improve their own health and well-being. Publishing in functional foods is mostly
limited to the health benefits of functional foods, such as their antioxidant and anticancer activities. In fact, identification of the suitable extraction or processing techniques for these functional components is imperative in maximizing their beneficial
activities. For instance, most functional plants or herbs should be dried and ground
to facilitate the extraction process. In order to extract curcuminoids, which are the
major antioxidant compounds in turmeric, different drying methods have been found
to affect the extracted content of curcuminoids. Among hot air, vacuum, infrared,
infrared-convection, infrared-vacuum and fluidized bed drying methods, significantly
the highest curcuminoid content was obtained from infrared-vacuum drying. This is
an example of how processing affects the physiologically active components of functional foods