ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... 17
References ........................................................................................................................... 17
The aims of this work on food polysaccharides are to describe (a) their sources, biosynthesis,
molecular structures, and physical properties, (b) their production and uses in food formu-
lations, indicating how chemical and physical properties relate to texture and functionality,
(c) the effects of cooking and the interactions between food polysaccharides and proteins,
lipids, sugars, and metal ions, (d) analytical methods for food polysaccharides, including
identification and quantitative determination, which have improved dramatically in scope,
sensitivity, and precision, and (e) their nutritional and ecological considerations, with em-
phasis on genetic engineering of food crops. Legislative aspects were dealt with in the first
edition (by the late Dr. D.M.W. Anderson). The book is intended for, on one hand, food
scientists and technologists, and students of the subject, to provide a fundamental coverage of
the sources, analysis, structure, and function of polysaccharides in relation to their applica-
tion for food use and, on the other, for polysaccharide chemists and biochemists, to indicate
the potential of these substances in the food industry [1,1a]. As the balance between scientific
description of polysaccharides and their technical or trade aspects varies, there is a concurrent
variety in style and in modes of expression among the chapters.
