scholarly journals Functional Food—Consumer Motivations and Expectations

Author(s):  
Kinga Topolska ◽  
Adam Florkiewicz ◽  
Agnieszka Filipiak-Florkiewicz

This review provides insight into consumer attitudes toward functional food (FF), with the purpose of better understanding the needs and behavior regarding this kind of product. A total of 47 articles were selected for this paper. The available studies from last 20 years differ according to the focus (awareness, attitudes, motivations, willingness, acceptance by consumers) and methodologies used. Several factors, including socio-demographic, cognitive and attitudinal ones, seem to be serve as the basis for the acceptance of functional products. The research papers showed that nutritional knowledge is the most important of these. Older people are more interested in functional products than younger consumers, because of their stronger belief in the health benefits of FF. Moreover, women are more open to compromise between taste and health properties. Claims concerning the disease preventative properties of FF are the most attractive for consumers. This review focuses also on future perspectives for the functional food market. Adequate knowledge and evidence-based communication seem to be the most promising ways to increase consumers’ interest in these kinds of products.

Author(s):  
Lucyna Witek ◽  
Katarzyna Szalonka

The purpose of the article is to identify factors that affect consumer attitudes and behavior towards food perceived by consumers as healthy. This article was based on interdisciplinary literature studies and qualitative research conducted in March and April 2017 by means of individual unstructured interviews on a sample of 30 respondents. All respondents are residents of Poland, exhibiting above average involvement in the processes of acquiring goods, preparing meals. From literature and empirical research, it can be concluded that consumers expect food not only for their taste and nutritional value, but first of all for health. The article has characterized the motives for buying food, considered by consumers to be healthier than food outlets (mass food). Food safety, health care for you and your family, and authenticity are becoming increasingly important criteria for choosing foods. The main determinants of consumer behavior in the healthy food market are demographic factors, health awareness, motivation, lifestyle, social factors and consumer perceptions. Particular attention has been paid to organic and functional foods as products valued for their health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Kirthi Koushik ◽  
Ram Charith Alva

Oral cancers form one of the most common malignancies seen worldwide, with a steady increase in number over time. Surgery with the addition of adjuvant therapy forms the cornerstone of therapeutic management for these cancers. Despite excellent surgical management, loco-regional recurrences have always been of concern. This has expanded the role of radiotherapy, with concomitant therapies, allowing to establish an effective management protocol. Over the last two decades, there have been huge strides taken towards understanding these specific aspects and providing insight into the most fruitful application of radiotherapy in these patients. In this chapter, we have presented the oncologists perspective to dealing with the non-surgical aspects of oral cancer management. We have elaborated on the chronological order with which radiotherapy has evolved and provided the contemporary aspects of decision making, essential for current practice. The evidence-based approach will address all components of radiotherapy workflow from basic understanding of patient’s anatomy, planning & evaluation during therapy to the outcomes & toxicity profiles to be expected in day-to-day clinics. Established guidelines have been incorporated into the graphical representations to ensure scenario-based understanding. Future perspectives, essential for identifying the possible direction of therapy & potential improvements in outcomes, have also been addressed.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Donohue ◽  
Kyle E. Ferguson

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 795
Author(s):  
Lukas Gorecki ◽  
Martin Andrs ◽  
Jan Korabecny

Selective killing of cancer cells while sparing healthy ones is the principle of the perfect cancer treatment and the primary aim of many oncologists, molecular biologists, and medicinal chemists. To achieve this goal, it is crucial to understand the molecular mechanisms that distinguish cancer cells from healthy ones. Accordingly, several clinical candidates that use particular mutations in cell-cycle progressions have been developed to kill cancer cells. As the majority of cancer cells have defects in G1 control, targeting the subsequent intra‑S or G2/M checkpoints has also been extensively pursued. This review focuses on clinical candidates that target the kinases involved in intra‑S and G2/M checkpoints, namely, ATR, CHK1, and WEE1 inhibitors. It provides insight into their current status and future perspectives for anticancer treatment. Overall, even though CHK1 inhibitors are still far from clinical establishment, promising accomplishments with ATR and WEE1 inhibitors in phase II trials present a positive outlook for patient survival.


Author(s):  
Edvige Gambino ◽  
Kuppam Chandrasekhar ◽  
Rosa Anna Nastro

AbstractMarine pollution is becoming more and more serious, especially in coastal areas. Because of the sequestration and consequent accumulation of pollutants in sediments (mainly organic compounds and heavy metals), marine environment restoration cannot exempt from effective remediation of sediments themselves. It has been well proven that, after entering into the seawater, these pollutants are biotransformed into their metabolites, which may be more toxic than their parent molecules. Based on their bioavailability and toxic nature, these compounds may accumulate into the living cells of marine organisms. Pollutants bioaccumulation and biomagnification along the marine food chain lead to seafood contamination and human health hazards. Nowadays, different technologies are available for sediment remediation, such as physicochemical, biological, and bioelectrochemical processes. This paper gives an overview of the most recent techniques for marine sediment remediation while presenting sediment-based microbial fuel cells (SMFCs). We discuss the issues, the progress, and future perspectives of SMFC application to the removal of hydrocarbons and metals in the marine environment with concurrent energy production. We give an insight into the possible mechanisms leading to sediment remediation, SMFC energy balance, and future exploitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1410-1429
Author(s):  
Claire Wilson ◽  
Tommy van Steen ◽  
Christabel Akinyode ◽  
Zara P. Brodie ◽  
Graham G. Scott

Technology has given rise to online behaviors such as sexting. It is important that we examine predictors of such behavior in order to understand who is more likely to sext and thus inform intervention aimed at sexting awareness. We used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine sexting beliefs and behavior. Participants (n = 418; 70.3% women) completed questionnaires assessing attitudes (instrumental and affective), subjective norms (injunctive and descriptive), control perceptions (self-efficacy and controllability) and intentions toward sexting. Specific sexting beliefs (fun/carefree beliefs, perceived risks and relational expectations) were also measured and sexting behavior reported. Relationship status, instrumental attitude, injunctive norm, descriptive norm and self-efficacy were associated with sexting intentions. Relationship status, intentions and self-efficacy related to sexting behavior. Results provide insight into the social-cognitive factors related to individuals’ sexting behavior and bring us closer to understanding what beliefs predict the behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2409
Author(s):  
Wojciech Kolanowski

Salmonids are valuable fish in the human diet due to their high content of bioactive omega-3 very long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (VLC PUFA). The aim of this study was to assess the omega-3 VLC PUFA content in selected salmonid fish present on the food market regarding whether they were farm-raised or wild. It was assumed that farm-raised fish, by eating well-balanced feed enriched with omega-3 PUFA, might contain omega-3 VLC PUFA in levels similar to that of wild fish. Fat content, fatty acid composition and omega-3 VLC PUFA content in fish fillets were measured. Farm-raised salmon from Norway, wild Baltic salmon, farm-raised rainbow trout and brown trout were bought from a food market whereas wild trout (rainbow and brown) were caught alive. The fat content in fish ranged from 3.3 to 8.0 g/100 g of fillet. It was confirmed that although wild salmonid fish contain 10–25% more omega-3 VLC PUFA in lipid fraction, the farm-raised ones, due to the 60–100% higher fat content, are an equally rich source of these desirable fatty acids in the human diet. One serving (130 g) of salmonid fish fillets might provide a significant dose of omega-3 VLC PUFA, from 1.2 to 2.5 g. Thus, due to very high content of bioactive fatty acids eicosapentaenoic (EPA), docosapentaenoic (DPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) in their meat, salmonid fish currently present on the food market, both sea and freshwater as well as wild and farm-raised, should be considered as natural functional food.


2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Martin Braschler ◽  
Linda Cappellato ◽  
Fabio Crestani ◽  
Nicola Ferro ◽  
Gundula Heinatz Bürki ◽  
...  

This is a report on the tenth edition of the Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum (CLEF 2019), held from September 9--12, 2019, in Lugano, Switzerland. CLEF was a four day event combining a Conference and an Evaluation Forum. The Conference featured keynotes by Bruce Croft, Yair Neuman, and Miguel Martínez, and presentation of peer reviewed research papers covering a wide range of topics in addition to many posters. The Evaluation Forum consisted to nine Labs: CENTRE, CheckThat, eHealth, eRisk, ImageCLEF, LifeCLEF, PAN, PIR-CLEF, and ProtestNews, addressing a wide range of tasks, media, languages, and ways to go beyond standard test collections. CLEF 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of CLEF, which was celebrated with a dedicated session and a book on the lessons learnt in twenty years of evaluation activities and the future perspectives for CLEF. CLEF 2019 also introduced the Industry Days to further extend the reach and impact of CLEF.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2173
Author(s):  
Grace Gar-Lee Yue ◽  
Clara Bik-San Lau ◽  
Ping-Chung Leung

The immune modulating effects of selected herbs deserve careful studies to gain evidence-based support for their further development. We have been working hard on many items of medicinal herbs to gain insight into their immunomodulatory effects relevant to cancer treatment in particular, while infection control is not excluded. Nine of them have been selected to give the results of our exploration on their biological, particularly immunomodulatory activities. Since Hong Kong people especially favor one medicinal mushroom, viz. Coriolus versicolor, a number of clinical trials using Coriolus for cancer-related studies are included in this review. While immune modulation platforms are being built for relevant studies, a brief account on the research targets and related procedures are given.


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