Abstract

During the last two decades, the use of NMR spectroscopy for the characterization and analysis of food materials has flourished, and this trend continues to increase today. Currently, there exists no book that fulfils specifically the needs of food scientists that are interested in adding or expanding the use of NMR spectroscopy in their arsenal of food analysis techniques. Current books and monographs are rather addressed to experienced researchers in food analysis providing new information in the field. This book, written by acknowledged experts in the field, fills the gap by offering a day to day NMR guide for the food scientist, affording not only the basic theoretical aspects of NMR spectroscopy, but also practical information on sample preparation, experimental conditions and data analysis. Current developments in the field covered in this book are the availability of solid state NMR experiments such as CP/MAS and more importantly HR-MAS NMR for the analysis of semisolid foods, and the increasing use of chemometrics to analyze NMR data in food metabonomics. Moreover, this book contains an up to date discussion of MRI in food analysis including topics such as food processing and natural changes in food such as ripening. The book is a compact and complete source of information for food scientists who wish to apply methodologies based on NMR spectroscopy in food analysis. It contains information so far scattered in the primary literature, in NMR treatises and food analysis books, in a concise format that makes it appealing to food scientists who have no or minimal experience in magnetic resonance techniques. The inclusion of practical information about NMR instrumentation, experiment setup, acquisition and spectral analysis for the study of different food categories make this book a hands-on manual for food scientists wishing to implement novel NMR spectroscopy-based analytical techniques in their field.
Apostolos Spyros is an Assistant Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Crete. He has more than 20 years of hands-on experience in modern magnetic resonance techniques, including high resolution 1D, 2D and heteronuclear NMR, solid state NMR and MRI, and teaches analytical chemistry, spectroscopy and food analysis. During the last 10 years his research has focused on the development of novel analytical NMR methodologies for the characterization of organics, biomolecules, and lipids in complex matrices. He has published original papers and reviews dealing with analytical NMR applications in foods, natural products, biopolymers and organic materials in cultural heritage. Photis Dais is a Professor of Physical Chemistry and director of the NMR laboratory at the University of Crete with over 30 years of experience in NMR spectroscopy with a wide range of applications. During the last decade, he has published 21 research and 7 review articles and book chapters on food analysis and characterization by employing NMR spectroscopy. During the same time period, he has supervised 20 undergraduate diploma theses, 10 MSc theses, and 5 PhD theses, all on food science. He is the reviewer of 22 international journals and member of the editorial board of three journals.