New platform of biosensors for prescreening of pesticide residues to support laboratory analyses.

Millions of tons of pesticides are applied worldwide annually in agriculture. Among them, herbicides such as triazines and ureas, originating from agricultural runoff, can contaminate soils and surface and ground waters with severe toxic effects on humans. Nowadays, different analytical techniques are available for the detection of these chemicals; however, most of them are expensive and time-consuming, especially in the case of routine analyses. For this reason, on the basis of results collected through many years of experience in the field of photosynthetic organisms, we designed a biosensor platform intended for the easy, low-cost, and fast prescreening of photosynthetic herbicides. The platform combines the possibilities of amperometric and optical transduction systems, which have proven to be highly sensitive (limits of detection = 10(-10)-10(-8) M). The use of genetically modified algae strengthens the power of the platform, allowing different subclasses of herbicides to be recognized. The system has been validated for the analysis of environmental water and is proposed to support laboratories involved in the control of water pollution.

Biosensors for functional food safety and analysis.

The importance of safety and functionality analysis of foodstuffs and raw materials is supported by national legislations and European Union (EU) directives concerning not only the amount of residues of pollutants and pathogens but also the activity and content of food additives and the health claims stated on their labels. In addition, consumers' awareness of the impact of functional foods' on their well-being and their desire for daily healthcare without the intake pharmaceuticals has immensely in recent years. Within this picture, the availability of fast, reliable, low cost control systems to measure the content and the quality of food additives and nutrients with health claims becomes mandatory, to be used by producers, consumers and the governmental bodies in charge of the legal supervision of such matters. This review aims at describing the most important methods and tools used for food analysis, starting with the classical methods (e.g., gas-chromatography GC, high performance liquid chromatography HPLC) and moving to the use of biosensors-novel biological material-based equipments. Four types of bio-sensors, among others, the novel photosynthetic proteins-based devices which are more promising and common in food analysis applications, are reviewed. A particular highlight on biosensors for the emerging market of functional foods is given and the most widely applied functional components are reviewed with a comprehensive analysis of papers published in the last three years; this report discusses recent trends for sensitive, fast, repeatable and cheap measurements, focused on the detection of vitamins, folate (folic acid), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), fatty acids (in particular Omega 3), phytosterols and phytochemicals. A final market overview emphasizes some practical aspects ofbiosensor applications.

An overview of the functional food market: from marketing issues and commercial players to future demand from life in space.

Companies in the food industry have high expectations for food products that meet the consumers' demand for a healthy life style. In this context Functional Food plays a specific role. These foods are not intended only to satisfy hunger and provide the necessary human nutrients, but also to prevent nutrition-related diseases and increase the physical and mental well-being of their consumer. Among participants in space science and missions, recognition of nutraceuticals and dietary supplements is growing for their potential in reducing health risks and to improve health quality and eating habits during long-term flights and missions. In 2008 the entire functional foods market was worth over an estimated US $80 billion, with the US holding a majority share in the nutraceuticals market (35%) followed byJapan (25%) and with the ever-growing European market, currently estimated at US$8 billion. India and China are the two major countries known for their production of traditional functional food products and nutraceuticals, but other South-East Asian countries and Gulf nations are developing potential markets.

Legislation on nutraceuticals and food supplements: a comparison between regulations in U.S.A. and E.U.

This chapter provides a short review of the main regulations concerning functional food and nutraceutical products set out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in the European Union by the European Commission. The directives are presented in chronological order with an overview on the reaction and feedback they received from consumers and manufacturing industry. A comparison between the U.S. and E.U. regulations, their acceptance and impact on the market is presented, together with a final suggestion to enhance the future development and distribution of functional products, which belong to an equivocal area between food and drugs.