Functional and speciality beverage technology, edited by Paul Paquin, looks beyond the trends driving the current beverage market, focusing instead on key ingredients, equipment and proposed health effects of the added value segment.
Woodhead Publishing, the company behind the book, says that while it has already published many books dealing with the development of nutraceuticals and functional foods, the new title is the first focusing directly on added-value drinks.
In the book, Paquin, associate dean of the Agriculture and Food Science Faculty of the Université Laval, Canada, outlines a number of major challenges in making both traditional and dairy-based functional drinks, claims the publisher.
Taste tribulations
The publication therefore looks at the methods of producing beverages that combine potential health benefits with acceptable taste, appearance and shelf life, claims the publisher.
Examples given by the group include the difficulties in obtaining a specific amount of fibre or vitamins without compromising a beverage’s texture or stability and cutting calorie content.
“Many functional beverages are formulated with high-potency sweeteners, rather than sugar, but these sweeteners can change beverage mouth feel and flavour,” stated Woodhead.
In reviewing the functional beverage segment, the book has been split up to detail developments for both regular and dairy-based goods.
The publisher says that the first part deals with formulating essential ingredients such as sweeteners and stabilisers with unique features of functional products such as fortification technology.
Innovations in dairy drinks are covered in the second section of the book, with a focus on methods being used to boost nutritional and taste qualities as well as preserving the quality of milk.