Health Food Market Research Articles

A Review of Research on Factors Influencing Chinese Consumers' Healthy Food Purchases

The public's health awareness has increased substantially with the progress of society, food safety incidents are frequent, and the Chinese government has introduced a number of health-related policies, so it is necessary to study the influencing factors on consumers' purchasing of healthy food. This paper investigates the influencing factors on consumers’ purchase of healthy food through literature analysis and finds that consumers’ perception of healthy food significantly influences their purchase of healthy food through different dimensions. Perceptions are correlated with education, however, when consumers perceive that the health food market in China is not sufficiently safe and secure the higher their level of concern the lower their purchase rate. Purchasing habits and preferences, income level, type of occupation, and personal and family health conditions all have an impact on the purchase of healthy foods. Among product factors high prices are a major barrier to healthy food purchases. Government regulation of the food industry and consumer protection all have a strong effect on consumer purchases of healthy food. Characteristics such as the environment, convenience, trustworthiness and price level of the place of consumption also have an impact on the purchase of health food.

Augmentation of gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), antioxidant potential and nutrient qualities in germinated brown rice

Rice grains rich in GABA, a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, are gaining popularity, particularly, in the health food market, for their nutritional, brain, and nerve functions. Many factors like variety, soaking, and germination time influence GABA levels in rice. We evaluated a few indigenous rice varieties/cultivars for their potential to enhance GABA content by varying the soaking and germination durations. GABA content of rice varieties Jyothi and Chitteni and the cultivar Njavara increased steadily from 19.18 mg/kg, 26.67 mg/kg, and 28.63 mg/kg at 0 h soaking and germination to 116.89 mg/kg, 127.97 mg/kg and 130.29 mg/kg after 72 h soaking and germination. The GABA enriched rice extracts showed moderate antioxidant activity in DPPH radical scavenging activity with an IC50 value of 121.01 μg/mL, 101.38 μg/mL, 119.14 μg/mL,and high reducing activity in ferric oxide radical scavenging assay with an IC50 value of 53.81 μg/mL, 47.30 μg/mL, and 52.15 μg/mL in Jyothi, Njavara, and Chitteni, respectively. GABA content enhanced significantly with the increase in the duration of soaking and germination. The germination process for all rice varieties/cultivars significantly (P ≤ 0.05) enhanced protein, fat, and dietary fibre, while the energy and carbohydrate decreased slightly. Among the three rice varieties/cultivars, germinated brown rice from Njavara was superior, having the most GABA content, antioxidant activity, and nutritional qualities. The GABA content in the germinated Njavara was superior or comparable to the GABA content in most of the earlier reported Indian rice varieties. Germinated brown rice from indigenous rice varieties such as Njavara can be exploited as a potential source for a nutritionally rich and balanced diet.

A multi-agent based simulation model of consumer behaviour in the health and wellness food market

The main scientific goal of the article is to present the results of research which aimed to build a multi-agent simulation model of consumer behaviour on the health and wellness market. A multi-agent based modelling and simulation (MABS) method was used to build the model. The analysis of the collected data allowed for a typology of a group of consumers in the health and wellness food market. The results of the simulation experiments led to the identification of key strengths and weaknesses and indicate which opportunities and threats have the strongest impact on the development of the health and wellness food market. The findings could be useful in the development of tools and strategies that could be adapted to encourage healthy eating habits. The study can increase consumer awareness of the importance of healthy eating, sustainable consumption and lead to more healthy buying behaviour.

SNP discovery in proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) using low-pass genome sequencing.

Domesticated ~10,000 years ago in northern China, Proso millet ( Panicum miliaceum L.) is a climate‐resilient and human health‐promoting cereal crop. The genome size of this self‐pollinated allotetraploid is 923 Mb. Proso millet seeds are an important part of the human diet in many countries. In the USA, its use is restricted to the birdseed and pet food market. Proso millet is witnessing gradual demand in the global human health and wellness food market owing to its health‐promoting properties such as low glycemic index and gluten‐free. The breeding efforts for developing improved proso millet cultivars are hindered by the dearth of genomic resources available to researchers. The publication of the reference genome and availability of cost‐effective NGS methodologies could lead to the identification of high‐quality genetic variants, which can be incorporated into breeding pipelines. Here, we report the identification of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) by low‐pass (1×) genome sequencing of 85 diverse proso millet accessions from 23 different countries. The 2 × 150 bp Illumina paired‐end reads generated after sequencing were aligned to the proso millet reference genome. The resulting sequence alignment information was used to call SNPs. We obtained 972,863 bi‐allelic SNPs after quality filtering of the raw SNPs. These SNPs were used to assess the population structure and phylogenetic relationships among the accessions. Most of the accessions were found to be highly inbred with heterozygosity ranging between .05 and .20. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that PC1 (principal component) and PC2 explained 19% of the variability in the population. PCA also clustered all the genotypes into three groups. A neighbor‐joining tree clustered the genotypes into four distinct groups exhibiting diverse representation within the population. The SNPs identified in our study could be used for molecular breeding and genetics research (e.g., genetic and association mapping, and population genetics) in proso millet after proper validation.

A metabolomics study of the intervention effect of Tartary buckwheat on hyperlipidemia mice.

Tartary buckwheat can improve hyperlipidemia and affect the changes of metabolic pathways to the body. In this study, we use LC/MS to obtain metabolic fingerprints of plasma samples collected from control (LFD), high-fat diet (HFD), Tartary buckwheat protein (BWP), and Tartary buckwheat starch (BWS). Using the metabolic network database, through OPLS-DA, the potential biomarkers and pathways of BWP and BWS intervention in hyperlipidemia mice are initially determined. The results showed that there are 30 metabolites in total, among which linoleic acid, glycerol, phosphatidyl, ethanolamine, and galactose ceramide are the most important differentially expressed metabolites in BWP and BWS plasma samples. These metabolites are involved in eight metabolic pathways, such as linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism. Tartary buckwheat can alleviate the symptoms of hyperlipidemia in mice by affecting the above-mentioned metabolic pathways. This research has a profound impact on the development of nutritious foods of buckwheat. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Tartary buckwheat, also known as wild buckwheat, is a typical embodiment homology of medicine and food. We have clarified that the protein and starch extracted from tartary buckwheat have the function of reducing blood lipids. It is expected to be applied to functional food materials in the health food market. Also, the effects of tartary buckwheat protein and starch in improving metabolic pathways can be generally applied as a physiological active compound of functional food supplements.

Application of sous vide cooking to aquatic food products: a review

With the development of cooking technology towards a more quantitative science, consumers have begun to consider cooking as no longer limited to traditional methods. Through continuous recognition, the concept of molecular cooking has gradually entered the mainstream. In addition to the traditional way of conceiving cooking, and on the premise of ensuring food safety and adequate nutrition, food components considered at the molecular level and the use of modern cooking equipment in the preparation of innovative dishes can be combined by employing physical, chemical, and biological strategies. The sous vide (SV) cooking method refers to cooking using precisely controlled temperature and time of vacuum-packed food, which results in a food that is safe, nutritious, convenient, and easy to prepare. As a result, healthy SV preparations are widely accepted among families as well as single and elderly people. This technology has been widely used in catering, food retail, and health food market. In this review, important aspects of the origin and development of SV technology as well as its impact on the quality of aquatic products are discussed. In addition, current existing problems, and prospects to better promote SV technology in aquatic product processing are highlighted. Collectively, this review provides references for the application of SV cooking technology to the industrial processing of aquatic products.

Rice bean ( Vigna umbellata ) based ready‐to‐eat geriatric premix: Optimization and analysis

The current study was aimed to prepare a rice bean-based protein-rich premix for elderly population, which can meet their minimum daily dietary requirement in addition to their regular diet. A process for the formulation using rice bean, chickpea, skimmed milk powder, and stevia was optimized. The mixture containing different amounts of ingredients was analyzed for functional properties, antioxidant activity, phytochemical properties, and sensory properties. The optimized product had 56.72 g rice bean, 25.02 g chickpea, 27.75 g skimmed milk powder, and 0.94 g stevia powder. The product contained good amount of bioactive compounds and was rich in nutrients, particularly, vitamin C and protein. As rice bean was a significant variable in the formulation, it could be effectively used for development of specific nutrition-rich products for the elderly. The premix has good nutritional value and potentially meets the minimum nutritional needs of elderly population. Practical applications The current health food market is saturated with lots of foods that are aimed at infant, preschool children, and athletes. A new relevant segment is on the growth in the form of geriatric nutrition and people are understanding the need and care that elderly require in terms of nutrition and specific foods. The current work aims to introduce a ready-to-reconstitute geriatric premix using rice bean as an underutilized source of protein and other nutrients. Moreover, simple techniques that could very well be used in small- to large-scale industries are used to prepare the product.

Designing food packaging to present healthy and ethical diets to the New Chinese middle classes

ABSTRACT ‘Healthy’ and ‘ethical’ food is one of the fastest-growing food trends around the world. Yet scholars in this journal have shown that what this means in many territories tends to be dominated by Western-centric concepts. They call for the need to decenter the dominant Euro-American and Anglo-centric food scholarship in order to throw light on these processes. To better understand food globalization, one must consider how regional history, culture, economics, and politics foster a complex dynamic of global-local and West-East flows. Aligning with these concerns, we analyze food packages from China marketed at a rapidly growing health and ethical food market. Using an in-depth qualitative method, Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine the discursive and material power of healthy and ethical food products as these are communicated through packaging designs, showing how these carry ideas, value, and identities. We explore how this might be understood in the context of where such designs target an emerging Chinese middle class, concerned about food integrity, but also who seek out distinction and modern cosmopolitanism. We ask how the ideas carried by the packages might shape and steer local understandings of healthy and ethical food.

Open Innovation and Business Model of Health Food Industry in Asia

Health trends and digital technologies are of great significance for the health and wellness food market and its development in the future. This study examines whether health trends, digital technology, and market concentration influence health and wellness food consumption in the Asian market. Our analysis uses a panel dataset covering 14 Asian economies from the period 2006–2020 and a panel quantile regression technique with non-additive fixed effects. The results reveal that health trends and digital technology have positive and significant impacts on health and wellness food consumption, whereas the concentration of distribution channels has a negative and significant impact. These results also offer insights into each type of health and wellness food consumption, thereby contributing to the health and wellness food market development. Finally, this study suggests the health and wellness food business development through a consumer-driven open innovation strategy.

Direct Selling to Heterogenous Consumers with Value-Added Service

This study is based on a unique direct selling method in the health food and cosmetics market. We build a supply chain consisted of one supplier and one retailer and utilize a game theory model to study it. The supplier owns superior power and can set the price and commission rate, whereas the retailer can determine the quality of value-added service. To maintain social welfare, the government may limit the commission rate set by the supplier. We find that the government’s regulation might make the supply chain’s social and economic performance better off or worse off, depending on a consumer’s preference to value-added services. Additionally, we provide a cost-sharing contract between supplier and salespeople to achieve supply chain coordination. Our study provides applicable insights for each supply chain player and political guidance for the government.

A review of the phytochemical compounds and pharmacological activities of Eurycoma longifolia

Eurycoma longifolia belongs to Simaroubaceae family. It is a tall tree and has different local name from many countries and this review consisted of their traditional usage, phytochemical compounds and pharmacological activity. A systematic review was conducted to study the scientific work of E. longifolia which published in the last 10 years and minimum 20 articles that published in the last 2 years, published in Pubmed, Scopus etc. also has a digital object identifier (DOI). E. longifolia was a popular traditional medicine. The leaves wasused as supplement for giving birth, its bark as anthelmintic and its roots as antimalaria, laxative, antidiabetic etc.Due to high demand of this plant there are various formula of E. longifolia available in health food market. Many studies have been performed to determine the active constituents and pharmacology activities of E. longifolia. Alkaloid, quassinoid, polyphenols, flavonoid, polysaccharide, triterpenoid were found in E. longifolia. Quassinoids is a major phytochemical compound in E. longifolia which has various types like eurycumanone, eurycomanol, eurycomadilactone and eurylactone. Quassinoids has bitter taste and often found in Simaroubaceae family.Pharmacological activities of E. longifolia such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-osteoporotic activities. The literature review results showed that E. longifolia can be considered as medicinal plant for human. In the future, further studies on mechanism of pharmacology activity of E. longifolia are warranted.

Effect of Raman exposure time on the quantitative and discriminant analyses of carotenoid concentrations in intact tomatoes

The significant worldwide expansion of the health food market, which includes functional fruits and vegetables, requires a simple and rapid analytical method for the on-site analysis of functional components, such as carotenoids, in fruits and vegetables, and Raman spectroscopy is a powerful candidate. Herein, we clarified the effects of Raman exposure time on quantitative and discriminant analysis accuracies. Raman spectra of intact tomatoes with various carotenoid concentrations were acquired and used to develop partial least squares regression (PLSR) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models. The accuracy of the PLSR model was superior (R2 = 0.87) when Raman spectra were acquired 10 s, but decreased with decreasing exposure time (R2 = 0.69; 0.7 s). The accuracy of the PLS-DA model was unaffected by exposure time (hit rate: 90%). We conclude that Raman spectroscopy combined with PLS-DA is useful for the on-site analysis of carotenoids in fruits and vegetables.

Fortification using grape extract polyphenols – a review on functional food regulations

SummaryGrapes are rich sources of polyphenols and widely used in food fortification due to their health‐promoting properties. Previous studies have provided systematic strategies on foods fortified with grape polyphenols; however, until now, very little is known about grape polyphenol market, fortification and their health food regulations. It is, therefore, necessary to make a comprehensive overview of grape extract polyphenols and their fortification in functional foods. Hence, we reviewed the grape polyphenol market, fortification, health food market scenario and functional food regulations. The global grape polyphenol market is expected to rise 946.90 million USD by 2023 with its own trademark as polyphenol‐fortified functional foods. This is ultimately due to acceptability, extensive use, marketing of polyphenol‐fortified functional foods and their favourable food regulations. The future perspective on grape polyphenols research should be focused on extraction of polyphenols from grape waste and their fortification in functional foods.

Flaxseed and Camelina Meals as Potential Sources of Health-Beneficial Compounds.

Seed meals and cakes, deriving from minor oilseed crops, represent interesting co-products for the presence of a high content of proteins and bioactive compounds that could be successfully explored as valuable plant-derived feedstocks for food and non-food purposes. In this contest, flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) and camelina (Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz) are becoming increasingly important in the health food market as functional foods and cosmetic ingredients. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of genetic characteristics and cultivation sites on the chemical features of seed meals deriving from two flaxseed varieties (Sideral and Buenos Aires) and a camelina cultivar (Italia), cultivated in Central and Northern Italy (Pisa and Bologna). The content of total phenols and flavonoids, seed oil, proteins and fatty acids have been evaluated, together with the chemical profiles of flaxseed and camelina meals. In addition, radical-scavenging activity has been investigated. All the examined seed meals resulted as rich in bioactive compounds. In particular, flaxseed meal is a good source of the lignan secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) and hydroxycinnamic acid glucosides, while camelina meal contains glucosinolates and quercetin glycosides. Furthermore, all extracts exhibited a very strong radical-scavenging activity, that make these plant-derived products interesting sources for food or cosmetic ingredients with health outcomes.

Determination of ganoderic acids in triterpenoid constituents of Ganoderma tsugae

Ganoderma product has the highest sale volume in the health food market in Taiwan. The most widely-used raw material is the species of G. tsuage. Nine triterpenoids were isolated from the fruiting body of G. tsugae and their structures were identified, using 1H NMR and FT-IR, as ganoderic acid A (1), B (2), C (3), D (4), E (5), C5 (6), C6 (7), G (8) and ganoderenic acid D (9). A reverse-phase HPLC method was also established for the determination of these nine triterpenoids. Among these compounds, ganoderic acid E, C5, C6, G and ganoderenic acid D were analyzed for the first time by reverse-phase HPLC. The separation was carried out on a C18 reverse-phase column with a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 2% acetic acid (1/4 and 1/2, v/v) as mobile phase at a flow-rate of 0.8 mL/min and detection at 252 nm. Regression equation revealed the linear relationship (correlation coefficient: 0.9990-0.9999) between the peak-area ratios and concentrations of ganoderic acids. The recoveries of nine ganoderic acids were between 96.85-105.09%. The relative standard deviations of nine ganoderic acids range from 0.8-4.8% (intraday) and 0.7-5.1% (interday). The total contents of the nine ganoderic acids in eight Ganoderma samples were between 0.28-2.20%.

Authentication of Two Bio-Active Fish Oils by Qualitative Lipid Profiling Using Semi-Targeted Approach: An Exploratory Study.

Fish oils, which are rich in health-promoting polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), have emerged as promising functional foods in the global health and wellness food market. Their source regarding the fish type, season, and location of harvesting might influence the nutritional value of such bioactive oils and determine their market price. The differences in price among such oils often lead to economically motivated mislabeling and adulteration. In this study, our objective was to demonstrate how a qualitative targeted shotgun lipid profile workflow using an electrospray ionization-quadrupole-linear ion trap MS (QTrap) could differentiate fish oils originating from two different species. Five samples each of sardine (Sardinella longiceps) oil and shark (Echinorhinus brucus) liver oil were diluted to a concentration of 80 µg/mL in chloroform-methanol (1 + 2, v/v) with 5 mM ammonium acetate. These samples were directly infused into a QTrap MS. The data were acquired for 23 precursor ion and 4 neutral loss scan experiments in the positive ionization mode and compared. We identified the following major lipid classes: cholesteryl ester, diacyl glycerol, triacylglycerol, monoalkyldiacylglycerol, and phophatydyl choline. The relative peak areas of the identified lipid species, when subjected to supervised multivariate analysis, could effectively distinguish the sardine oil and shark liver oil. The approach will be useful in establishing authenticity of fish oil and to support the regulatory agencies in dispute resolution. It can also be extended to establish authenticity in other agricultural and food commodities. This paper reports a proof of concept for authenticating PUFA-rich fish supplements. A shotgun targeted lipidomics profile and chemometrics modeling successfully discriminated sardine oil and shark liver oil.

Evolutionary dynamics of health food safety regulatory information disclosure from the perspective of consumer participation.

The “trust” attribute of health food has intensified the serious information asymmetry problem in the health food market. Moreover, it has strengthened the formation and influence of potential or hidden safety risks of health food, bringing huge impacts on social harmony and stability. Therefore, this study builds a model of health food enterprise production and operation and government regulatory information disclosure from the perspective of consumer participation. The study fully considers the government's policy burdens and the degree of consumer response to food safety regulatory information. Moreover, it aims to explore the evolution mechanism of food enterprise production and operation strategies and government regulatory information disclosure strategies and analyze the evolution process of the government behavior in health food safety regulatory information disclosure. The theoretical derivation and simulation analysis found that the more sensitive consumers are to health food safety regulatory information, the more significant the profitability improvement of enterprises producing quality health food, thus urging the government to make an objective and comprehensive disclosure of health food safety regulatory information.

Evaluation of Chemical Composition of Two Linseed Varieties as Sources of Health-Beneficial Substances.

Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is becoming more and more important in the health food market as a functional food, since its seeds and oil represent a rich source of bioactive compounds. Its chemical composition is strongly correlated with, and dependent on, genetic characteristics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the variation in seed yield, oil content, fatty acid composition and secondary metabolite profiles between a low-linolenic linseed variety, belonging to the Solin-type group (Solal), and a high-linolenic traditional one (Bethune), cultivated, both as spring crops, in open field conditions of Central Italy. The achieved results pointed out the different behavior of the two varieties in terms of growth cycle, oil content, and some important yield components, such as capsule number per plant and thousand seed weight. There were also significant differences in seed composition regarding total phenols, total flavonoids, antioxidant activities as well as in carotenoid, tocopherol, and tocotrienol profiles between the two varieties. In particular, Solal was characterized by the greatest contents of oil, phenols, flavonoids, α- and δ- tocotrienol, together with the highest antioxidant activity. Bethune, on the contrary, showed the highest amounts of carotenoids (lutein and β-carotene). These results indicate a clear effect of the genetic characteristics on the biosynthesis of these secondary metabolites and, consequently, on the related antioxidant activity. Our findings suggest that the mutation process, responsible for the selection of the low-linolenic cultivar, is able to modify the biosynthetic pathways of carotenoids and phenolics.

Physical factors relevant for efficient Hawthorn fruit extraction

Today, the healthy nutrition market is one of the most promising market niches; modern consumers increasingly claim fortified products for their diets. One of the ways to increase the biological and physiological value of products is their enrichment with extracts of plant origin. The aim of the work was to study the influence of various factors on the process of hawthorn fruit extraction and determine the optimal parameters of the technological process. The study objects were hawthorn fruit extracts produced by the statistical method of maceration (with stirring). In the extracts obtained, there were determined the quantitative content of tannins and pectin substances, dietary fiber and vitamins. Currently, the global health and wellness food market is steadily growing due to changes in consumer behaviour patterns and developing of healthy self-consciousness. The studies conducted by the authors have shown that extracting of plant materials and the efficiency of biologically active substances extraction are influenced by the following factors: the extractant pH, grinding type and size of raw materials and process parameters. The optimal technological regimes have been established. They are the extraction temperature of 60 °C and extraction time of 30 minutes. The appropriate grinding size of dry hawthorn fruit has been determined to be up to 2.8 mm of a particle. In case of milk being an extractant, a high extraction dynamic of pectic substances and dietary fibers was observed. So, the hawthorn milk extract has been revealed to have higher organoleptic characteristics.

Microalgal Derivatives as Potential Nutraceutical and Food Supplements for Human Health: A Focus on Cancer Prevention and Interception.

Epidemiological studies are providing strong evidence on beneficial health effects from dietary measures, leading scientists to actively investigate which foods and which specific agents in the diet can prevent diseases. Public health officers and medical experts should collaborate toward the design of disease prevention diets for nutritional intervention. Functional foods are emerging as an instrument for dietary intervention in disease prevention. Functional food products are technologically developed ingredients with specific health benefits. Among promising sources of functional foods and chemopreventive diets of interest, microalgae are gaining worldwide attention, based on their richness in high-value products, including carotenoids, proteins, vitamins, essential amino acids, omega-rich oils and, in general, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. Beneficial effects of microalgae on human health and/or wellness could in the future be useful in preventing or delaying the onset of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. During the past decades, microalgal biomass was predominately used in the health food market, with more than 75% of the annual microalgal biomass production being employed for the manufacture of powders, tablets, capsules or pastilles. In this review, we report and discuss the present and future role of microalgae as marine sources of functional foods/beverages for human wellbeing, focusing on perspectives in chemoprevention. We dissected this topic by analyzing the different classes of microalgal compounds with health outputs (based on their potential chemoprevention activities), the biodiversity of microalgal species and how to improve their cultivation, exploring the perspective of sustainable food from the sea.