Mohamed A. Azzam

Technology of Cereal-rich Probiotic Dairy Beverage: Influence of Transglutaminase on Activity of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Properties of Cereal-rich Fermented Dairy Beverage Mohamed A. Azzam

In recent years, nutraceuticals and functional foods have become part of our vocabulary and increasingly, part of our menu. Because of their particular function, functional foods constitute the fastest growing part in the world food market. ?Functional Foods? and ?nutraceuticals? currently lack a uniform definition and include any food that has a positive impact on an individual?s health, physical performance or state of mind in addition to its nutritive value (Goldberg, 1994). Functional foods perform particular functions such as improvement of biological defense mechanisms, prevention or recovery of specific disease, control physical conditions and slow aging process. Foods can be modified by addition of bioactive peptides, omega-3, poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and probiotics and/or prebiotics to become functional. New recognized food products with explicit health claims have also been introduced in the market, including yogurt, cheese and fermented drinks or beverages with probiotic bacteria that improve digestion, and margarines and herbal ghee that lower blood cholesterol. New trends are using today's to develop new functional foods with great health benefits.