Functional Polymers in Food Science

Polymers are an important part in everyday life; products made from polymers range from sophisticated articles, such as biomaterials, to aerospace materials. One of the reasons for the great popularity exhibited by polymers is their ease of processing. Polymer properties can be tailored to meet specific needs by varying the "atomic composition" of the repeat structure, by varying molecular weight and by the incorporation (via covalent and non-covalent interactions) of an enormous range of compounds to impart specific activities.

In food science, the use of polymeric materials is widely explored, from both an engineering and a nutraceutical point of view. Regarding the engineering application, researchers have discovered the most suitable materials for intelligent packaging which preserves the food quality and prolongs the shelf-life of the products. Furthermore, in agriculture, specific functionalized polymers are used to increase the efficiency of treatments and reduce the environmental pollution. In the nutraceutical field, because consumers are increasingly conscious of the relationship between diet and health, the consumption of high quality foods has been growing continuously. Different compounds (e.g. high quality proteins, lipids and polysaccharides) are well known to contribute to the enhancement of human health by different mechanisms, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary disease, and hypertension.

This first volume, of this two volume book, concerns the application of polymers in food packaging.

Giuseppe Cirillo received his PhD in 2008 from the University of Calabria, Italy, where he is currently in a post-doctoral position. His research interests are in the development of functional polymers with tailored biological activity, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer chelating,, the design of smart hydrogels for drug delivery, the study of the activity of innovative functional foods and nutraceuticals, and the synthesis and functionalization of carbon nanotubes, based devices for biomedical applications. He is the author and coauthor of more than 100 publications, including four edited books with Wiley Scrivener.

Umile Gianfranco Spizzirri obtained his PhD in 2005 from the University of Calabria. He is currently a member of the Technical Staff at the Department of Pharmacy, Nutrition and Health Science of the same university. His research activities are mainly related to the polymer chemistry and technology for the preparation of stimuli-responsive drug delivery system, functional polymers for food industry, and new analytical methodologies for the food quality and safety assessment. He is the author and coauthor of more than 100 publications, including three edited books with Wiley Scrivener.