The search for better strategies to preserve foods with minimal changes during processing has been of great interest in recent decades. Traditionally, edible films and coatings have been used as a partial barrier to moisture, oxygen, and carbon dioxide through selective permeability to gases, as well as improving mechanical handling properties. The advances in this area have been breathtaking, and in fact their implementation in the industry is already a reality. Even so, there are still new developments in various fields and from various perspectives worth reporting.

Edible Films and Coatings: Fundamentals and Applications discusses the newest generation of edible films and coatings that are being especially designed to allow the incorporation and/or controlled release of specific additives by means of nanoencapsulation, layer-by-layer assembly, and other promising technologies. Covering the latest novelties in research conducted in the field of edible packaging, it considers state-of-the-art innovations in coatings and films; novel applications, particularly in the design of gourmet foods; new advances in the incorporation of bioactive compounds; and potential applications in agronomy, an as yet little explored area, which could provide considerable advances in the preservation and quality of foods in the field.

The search for better strategies to preserve foods with minimal changes during processing has been of great interest in recent decades. Traditionally, edible films and coatings have been used as a partial barrier to moisture, oxygen, and carbon dioxide through selective permeability to gases, as well as improving mechanical handling properties. The advances in this area have been breathtaking, and in fact their implementation in the industry is already a reality. Even so, there are still new developments in various fields and from various perspectives worth reporting.

Edible Films and Coatings: Fundamentals and Applications discusses the newest generation of edible films and coatings that are being especially designed to allow the incorporation and/or controlled release of specific additives by means of nanoencapsulation, layer-by-layer assembly, and other promising technologies. Covering the latest novelties in research conducted in the field of edible packaging, it considers state-of-the-art innovations in coatings and films; novel applications, particularly in the design of gourmet foods; new advances in the incorporation of bioactive compounds; and potential applications in agronomy, an as yet little explored area, which could provide considerable advances in the preservation and quality of foods in the field.

Water Stress Management contains the invited lectures and selected oral and poster presentations of the 11th International Symposium on the Properties of Water (ISOPOW), which was held in Queretaro, Mexico 5-9 September 2010. The text provides a holistic description and discussion of state-of-the-art topics on the role of water in Biological, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Food systems within a frame of an integrated approach and future trends on the subject. Different points-of-view about the state of water and phase transitions in a variety of substrates are presented.

ISOPOW is a non-profit scientific organization whose activities aim at progressing the understanding of the properties of water in food and related biological systems and the exploitation of this understanding in improved raw materials, products and processes in the food, agro food or related industries. The first Symposium was organized in Glasgow, Scotland in 1974. Since then, ISOPOW meetings have promoted the exchange of knowledge between scientists involved in the study of food materials and scientists interested in water from a more basic point of view and the dialogue between academic and industrial scientists/technologists.

High pressure processing technology has been adopted worldwide at the industrial level to preserve a wide variety of food products without using heat or chemical preservatives. High Pressure Processing: Technology Principles and Applications will review the basic technology principles and process parameters that govern microbial safety and product quality, an essential requirement for industrial application. This book will be of interest to scientists in the food industry, in particular to those involved in the processing of products such as meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables. The book will be equally important to food microbiologists and processing specialists in both the government and food industry. Moreover, it will be a valuable reference for authorities involved in the import and export of high pressure treated food products. Finally, this update on the science and technology of high pressure processing will be helpful to all academic, industrial, local, and state educators in their educational efforts, as well as a great resource for graduate students interested in learning about state-of-the-art technology in food engineering.

The search for better strategies to preserve foods with minimal changes during processing has been of great interest in recent decades. Traditionally, edible films and coatings have been used as a partial barrier to moisture, oxygen, and carbon dioxide through selective permeability to gases, as well as improving mechanical handling properties. The advances in this area have been breathtaking, and in fact their implementation in the industry is already a reality. Even so, there are still new developments in various fields and from various perspectives worth reporting.

Edible Films and Coatings: Fundamentals and Applications discusses the newest generation of edible films and coatings that are being especially designed to allow the incorporation and/or controlled release of specific additives by means of nanoencapsulation, layer-by-layer assembly, and other promising technologies. Covering the latest novelties in research conducted in the field of edible packaging, it considers state-of-the-art innovations in coatings and films; novel applications, particularly in the design of gourmet foods; new advances in the incorporation of bioactive compounds; and potential applications in agronomy, an as yet little explored area, which could provide considerable advances in the preservation and quality of foods in the field.

The search for better strategies to preserve foods with minimal changes during processing has been of great interest in recent decades. Traditionally, edible films and coatings have been used as a partial barrier to moisture, oxygen, and carbon dioxide through selective permeability to gases, as well as improving mechanical handling properties. The advances in this area have been breathtaking, and in fact their implementation in the industry is already a reality. Even so, there are still new developments in various fields and from various perspectives worth reporting.

Edible Films and Coatings: Fundamentals and Applications discusses the newest generation of edible films and coatings that are being especially designed to allow the incorporation and/or controlled release of specific additives by means of nanoencapsulation, layer-by-layer assembly, and other promising technologies. Covering the latest novelties in research conducted in the field of edible packaging, it considers state-of-the-art innovations in coatings and films; novel applications, particularly in the design of gourmet foods; new advances in the incorporation of bioactive compounds; and potential applications in agronomy, an as yet little explored area, which could provide considerable advances in the preservation and quality of foods in the field.

Water Stress Management contains the invited lectures and selected oral and poster presentations of the 11th International Symposium on the Properties of Water (ISOPOW), which was held in Queretaro, Mexico 5-9 September 2010. The text provides a holistic description and discussion of state-of-the-art topics on the role of water in Biological, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Food systems within a frame of an integrated approach and future trends on the subject. Different points-of-view about the state of water and phase transitions in a variety of substrates are presented.

ISOPOW is a non-profit scientific organization whose activities aim at progressing the understanding of the properties of water in food and related biological systems and the exploitation of this understanding in improved raw materials, products and processes in the food, agro food or related industries. The first Symposium was organized in Glasgow, Scotland in 1974. Since then, ISOPOW meetings have promoted the exchange of knowledge between scientists involved in the study of food materials and scientists interested in water from a more basic point of view and the dialogue between academic and industrial scientists/technologists.

High pressure processing technology has been adopted worldwide at the industrial level to preserve a wide variety of food products without using heat or chemical preservatives. High Pressure Processing: Technology Principles and Applications will review the basic technology principles and process parameters that govern microbial safety and product quality, an essential requirement for industrial application. This book will be of interest to scientists in the food industry, in particular to those involved in the processing of products such as meat, fish, fruits, and vegetables. The book will be equally important to food microbiologists and processing specialists in both the government and food industry. Moreover, it will be a valuable reference for authorities involved in the import and export of high pressure treated food products. Finally, this update on the science and technology of high pressure processing will be helpful to all academic, industrial, local, and state educators in their educational efforts, as well as a great resource for graduate students interested in learning about state-of-the-art technology in food engineering.