Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals

By Dr Rekha Sharma | Former Professor at UGC- Human Resource Development Centre

Learners enrolled: 2179

The online course on Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals is a 4 credit course of 15 weeks duration. This online course deals with health promoting nutritional factors and bioactive constituents, their potential health implications and mechanisms of action. This course is a part of the approved curriculum and is being taught in Indian Universities for one semester in Masters in Food Science and Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics and Applied Nutrition. After studying this online course, the student shall be able to describe what are functional foods and nutraceuticals, classify the functional foods, discuss the potential health implications and mechanism of functional foods and discuss the applications of functional foods in the industry. The pre-requisites of this course is, the student must be enrolled for Masters degree in Food Science and Nutrition or Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics or Applied Nutrition from Indian Universities. The course shall cover five units viz., ‘Introduction to Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals ,Probiotics, Prebiotics, Other Food Components with Potential Health Benefits and Non Nutrient Effect of Specific Nutrients’. These five units shall be covered in 40 modules and every week two to three modules shall be taught. The final evaluation and credit award of the student shall be based on formative assessments and assignments of 30 marks and summative assessment through online exams of 70 marks.

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	15 weeks
Category :	Agricultural and Food Engineering
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	07 Jul 2024
End Date :	31 Oct 2024
Enrollment Ends :	31 Aug 2024
Exam Date :	14 Dec 2024 IST
Exam Shift :	Shift 1: 9:00 am to 12:00 noon

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1

Introduction to Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals :Definition, History and Classification

Perceived Effects of Functional Foods

Week 2

Introduction to Probiotics,Prebiotics and Synbiotics

Probiotics: Taxonomy and Important Features of Probiotic Microorganisms

Health Effects of Probiotic Microorganisms

Week 3

Probiotics in Various Foods

Quality Assurance of Probiotics and Safety

Week 4

Prebiotics: Non Digestible Carbohydrates/ Oligosaccharides,

Prebiotics: Dietary Fiber

Week 5

Prebiotics: Resistant Starch

Prebiotics: Gums

Week 6

Polyphenols: Flavonoids, Catechins, Isoflavones, Tannins

Week 7

Phytoestrogens, Phytosterols, Glucosinolates

Week 8

Pigments: Carotenoids, Lycopene, Curcumin

Week 9

Organosulphur Compounds

Introduction to Anti-nutritional Factors, Phytates

Week 10

Enzymes, Protease inhibitors, Amylase inhibitors

Week 11

Saponins, Haemagglutinins,

An introduction to Active Biodynamic Principles in Spices, Condiments and Plant extracts

Week 12

Resveratrol, Kaempferol, Quercetin, Cinnamaldehyde, Crocin, Lutoline

Week 13

Capsaicin, Piperine, Gingerol, Eugenol, Rosmarinic acid, Apigenine, Thymoquinone

Week 14

Fenugreek and Diosgenin

Non Nutrient Effect of Specific Nutrients: Conjugated Linoleic Acid, Omega 3 Fatty acids

Week 15
Proteins and Peptides, Vitamins and Minerals

Books and references

1. Wildman, R. E. (2016). Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods. CRC Press

2. Gibson, G. R. and Williams, M. C. (2001). Functional Foods Concept to Product. CRC Press.

3. Vattem, D.A. and Maitin V.(2016). Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Natural Products, Concepts and Applications. DEStech Publications, Inc

4. Gupta, R. C. (2016). Nutraceuticals: Efficacy, Safety and Toxicity. Academic Press.

5. Rekha Sharma (2023). Introduction to Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals. PharmaMed Press / BSP Books, Hyderabad, India

Instructor bio

Dr Rekha Sharma

Former Professor at UGC- Human Resource Development Centre

Dr Rekha Sharma is a Former Professor at UGC- Human Resource Development Centre, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University and was actively engaged in research and training. Having received PhD in Foods and Nutrition from Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, she continued her research and has so far been able to publish 72 research papers in National and International Journals and presented 16 research papers at conferences, four of them being awarded the best research papers. A prolific writer, her books on wheat germ and Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals have been highly appreciated. Nine of her students have been awarded PhD under her guidance. She has vast experience of teaching for about two decades. She has worked as Research Assistant in UNICEF-assisted projects viz., Nutrition, Health Education, Environmental Sanitation (NHEES) and Mother and Child Health Care (MCH). At UGC-HRDC, she has coordinated many Orientation Programmes, Refresher Courses, Short Term Courses and Workshops for Academic Administrators and Principals. Her major areas of interest are Higher Education, ICT in Education, Research Methodology, Statistical Tools, Women's Studies and Nutrition. She was the coordinator of SWAYAM and Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University.