Functional ingredients in food, also known as functional factors, efficacy ingredients, and physiologically active ingredients, refer to substances that can regulate human functions by activating enzyme activity or other pathways, such as vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, polyunsaturated fatty acids, etc. These ingredients can meet the specific nutritional needs of the human body, help prevent diseases, and promote health. Functional ingredients are ingredients that truly play a physiological regulatory role in health foods or functional foods, and substances rich in these ingredients are called food functional ingredient bases.
Overview of Common Functional Ingredients
Dietary fiber
As diets become increasingly refined, dietary fiber has gradually become known to the public. This common functional ingredient is widely found in various foods and beverages, such as oats, whole wheat bread, fruit and vegetable juice, etc. Dietary fiber is a polysaccharide that is not easily digested and absorbed by the human body. It can help regulate intestinal flora, prevent constipation, and lower cholesterol. It plays an important role in intestinal health and is of great significance to maintaining human health.
Vitamins and minerals
Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients for the human body, and their application in food and beverages is even more indispensable. For example, vitamin C can enhance immunity and resist oxidation; calcium can strengthen bones and prevent osteoporosis; iron can help prevent anemia, etc. By properly matching different types of food and beverages, we can take in rich vitamins and minerals to protect our health.
Antioxidants
Antioxidants are substances that can help resist the damage of free radicals to the human body. In food and beverages, common antioxidants include tea polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamin E, vitamin C, etc. These antioxidants can delay aging, prevent cardiovascular diseases, etc., and protect our health. At the same time, some natural antioxidants such as green tea and red wine are even more popular.
Plant extracts
Plant extracts have been widely used in food and beverages due to their unique nutritional value and health functions. For example, extracts of Chinese medicinal materials such as ginseng and wolfberry have the effects of improving immunity and anti-fatigue; while green tea, red dates, etc. have the effects of anti-oxidation and blood tonic. The addition of these plant extracts not only enriches the taste and nutritional value of food and beverages, but also brings more protection to our health.
Probiotics and prebiotics
Probiotics and prebiotics play an important role in maintaining intestinal health. Probiotics can help regulate the balance of intestinal flora and enhance immunity; while prebiotics can provide nutritional support for probiotics and promote their growth and reproduction. We can see probiotics and prebiotics in various dairy products, beverages and functional foods. Together, they protect our intestinal health.
Functional sweeteners
With people's pursuit of healthy diet, functional sweeteners have gradually become the new favorite in food and beverages. Functional sweeteners mainly include three categories: functional monosaccharides, functional oligosaccharides, and functional sugar alcohols. Functional monosaccharides are mainly fructose and L-monosaccharides; functional oligosaccharides are mainly: stachyose, raffinose, lactulose, oligofructose, oligoxylose, oligogalactose, oligoisomaltose, etc.; functional sugar alcohols are mainly: sorbitol/mannitol, maltitol, xylitol, etc.
Compared with traditional sugars, functional sweeteners have the characteristics of low calories and sugar-free, and also have the effects of regulating blood sugar and improving taste. Natural sweeteners such as erythritol, stevioside, and mogroside have been used in a variety of foods.
Functional lipids
Functional oils are a type of oil with special physiological functions, including polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as linoleic acid, γ-linolenic acid, eicosapentaene EPA and docosahexaenoic acid DHA) and phospholipids (such as lecithin, cephalin, inositol phospholipids, serine phospholipids, etc.). Essential fatty acids are an important component of phospholipids and are crucial to brain development. They can lower cholesterol levels, prevent arteriosclerosis, inhibit the formation of arterial thrombus, reduce acute myocardial infarction, and prevent hypertension. Arachidonic acid is a precursor of prostaglandins (PG) and has physiological regulatory functions.
Amino acids, peptides and proteins
Functional amino acids are mainly essential amino acids and conditionally essential amino acids, such as taurine; bioactive peptides include antihypertensive peptides and antimicrobial peptides; active proteins include immunoglobulins, lactoferrin, lysozyme, peroxidase, etc. Amino acids are required for human growth and development and to maintain normal metabolism, and must be taken from the diet; taurine is particularly important for infant growth and intellectual development, and can improve body functions (such as vision) and enhance immunity; γ-aminobutyric acid has anti-anxiety, blood pressure lowering, and liver and brain function promotion. Bioactive peptides have a variety of physiological regulatory functions for the human body, including promoting immunity, regulating hormones, antibacterial and antiviral, and lowering blood pressure and blood lipids. Active proteins have certain special physiological functions, such as immunoglobulins can enhance the body's defense capabilities, and lactoferrin has the ability to bind and transport iron.
Special Chinese herbal medicine extracts
With the popularity of Chinese medicine health preservation, special Chinese herbal medicine extracts are also widely used in food and beverages. For example, Chinese herbal medicine extracts such as angelica and astragalus have the effects of nourishing blood and qi and improving immunity; while wolfberry, hawthorn, etc. have the effects of improving eyesight, nourishing the liver, and aiding digestion. The addition of these special Chinese herbal medicine extracts allows food and beverages to have health functions while satisfying the taste.
Application of functional ingredients in beverages
Vitamin and mineral fortified beverages
With the improvement of people's health awareness, it is particularly important to supplement the vitamins and minerals needed for daily life. The functional ingredients in functional beverages mainly include vitamin C, calcium, iron, etc., which can enhance people's resistance and maintain the balance of trace elements in the body. At the same time, low-sugar or sugar-free product forms have also become a trend, which meets people's current needs for health.
Plant dietary fiber beverages
As a nutrient that has the functions of regulating intestinal function and preventing constipation, dietary fiber is increasingly used in food and beverages. In the market, more and more plant fiber beverages have appeared, such as beverages made from apple fiber and oat fiber, which help consumers better control their weight and regulate intestinal health.
Protein beverages
Protein beverages represented by whey protein and soy protein are popular in the market. They can provide high-quality protein, which helps promote muscle synthesis and maintain satiety. In addition, high-protein beverages are also widely used in fitness, weight loss and other fields.
Antioxidant functional drinks
In recent years, with the deepening of research on antioxidant substances such as resveratrol and grape seed extract, more and more drinks containing these ingredients have entered the market. They effectively resist the damage of free radicals in the body to the human body by providing antioxidant effects and maintain a healthy state.
Future trends and opportunities
With the continuous advancement of science and technology and the growing demand for health by consumers, the application of functional ingredients in the food and beverage industry will be more extensive and in-depth. In the future, we can expect the emergence of more new functional ingredients with unique functions, such as probiotics and phytonutrients. At the same time, as people's demand for natural and organic products increases, green and environmentally friendly production methods will also become one of the directions for future industry development.
The application of functional ingredients in the food and beverage industry is constantly expanding its application areas and market share. It not only meets people's pursuit of health, but also promotes the innovation and development of the entire industry. In the face of this trend, we should pay close attention to market trends, keep up with consumer demand, and develop more products with health functions. At the same time, when purchasing food and beverages, we should pay attention to their ingredient lists and understand the functional ingredients contained in the products to protect our health. Let us have a healthy body while enjoying delicious food!
This article was independently created and published by Herbfields.net.