Health, Nutrition and Sustainability - Exploring Unconventional Food Sources Volume 1

Evolving dietary preferences, increasing concerns over food security and a growing awareness of the negative impact traditional food production practices have on the environment, have caused a major shift in the food landscape. Health, Nutrition and Sustainability: Exploring Unconventional Food Sources, Volume 1, addresses the surge in interest in exploring unconventional and alternative food sources that can diversify diets and become new sources of sustainable foods. From the underutilized to the lesser known, these foods are prime to improve nutrition and reduce ecological and carbon footprints. Health, Nutrition and Sustainability: Exploring Unconventional Food Sources, Volume 1, introduces readers to untapped food sources such as novel grains and seeds, underutilized fruits and vegetables, rare spices and herbs, edible invasives and edible flowers, and seaweed and microalgae and highlight their bioactive components and nutritional values. Through topics such as waste valorization, precision agriculture, organic farming and climate-smart agriculture strategies, the book also demonstrates how adaptation of underutilized plant foods play a crucial role in meeting global food security while minimizing environmental impact. The authors also navigate the readers through the safety and toxicity of these foods. A complementary volume highlighting the dietary, sensory, and gastronomic applications of unconventional foods and how they can enhance future product development is also available.

List of contents

Section 1: Navigating an Unconventional Landscape
1. Ethical Sourcing and Food Systems: Environmental Benefits and Impact
2. Edible Invasives: Harvesting Flavor from Invasive Species
3. Heritage Crops and Forgotten Foods: Rediscovering Ancient Grains and Varieties
4. Medicinal Foods: Nourishing the Body and Mind
5. Forgotten Fermented Foods and Beverages: From Global Traditions to Modern Delicacies
6. Cultured Meat: Lab-Grown Delicacies
7. Wild Foraging: Exploring Nature's Edible Offerings
8. Plant-Based Proteins: Beyond Meat and Beans
9. Toxicity and safety analysis of alternative food sources

Section 2: Grains, Seeds, Fruits and Vegetables
10. Novel Grains and Seeds: Unlocking Nutritional Potential
11. Unconventional legumes and oil seeds
12. Underutilized Fruits and Vegetables
13. Culinary Potential of Edible Flowers: A Botanical and Gastronomic Exploration

Section 3: Spices and Roots
14. Wild medicinal plants: source of novel bioactives
15. Exopolysaccharide: Sustainable future food source
16. Plant roots as unconventional food source
17. Rare and unconventional spices and herbs

Section 4: Entomophagy, Microalgae and Seaweed
18. Insects as Protein Powerhouses
19. Entomophagy and Food Security: The Role of Insects in Future Food Systems
20. Microalgae: The Nutritional Green Gold
21. Seaweeds and Aquatic Delights
22. Marine food source for sustainable future

Section 5: Waste Valorization
23. Plant based waste as a source of future foods
24. Fish based waste as a source of future foods
25. Animal waste as a source of future foods
26. Repurposing Byproducts: Finding Value in Food Processing Waste
27. Innovative Approaches to Food Waste Reduction: Technological Solutions and Initiatives

Section 6: Sustainable Agriculture and Future Prospects
28. Sustainable Agriculture Fundamentals
29. Precision Agriculture and Unconventional Food Sources
30. Organic Farming and Unconventional Ingredients
31. Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Food Production
32. Role of Emerging Technologies in Agriculture
33. Integrating Sustainable Practices in Climate-Smart Agriculture and Adaptation Strategies

About the author

Dr. Tanmay Sarkar is currently working as a Lecturer in the Government of West Bengal. With 9 years of experience in both teaching and research, his areas of interest include bioactive components from natural sources, ethnic foods, mathematical modeling, and phytochemicals. He is an editor for several SCI, SCIE, and Scopus- indexed journals and has edited numerous books with Elsevier and Springer.
Dr. Smaoui works as an Associate Professor in the Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax. He supervises research for the development of new healthier meat products, the use of agro-food industry by-products as potential sources to obtain valuable and bioactive compounds and the development of functional foods. He deals with meat quality and safety, analytical chemistry applied to food analysis, and research and development and analytical method validation by the application of chemometric techniques.

Product details

• Assisted by: Tanmay Sarkar (Editor), Slim Smaoui (Editor)
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Languages: English
• Release: 01.11.2025
• EAN: 9780443329203
• ISBN: 978-0-443-32920-3
• Subjects: Guides > Health > Diet; HEALTH & FITNESS / Diet & Nutrition / Nutrition, Fitness & diet, Dietetics and nutrition, Diets and dieting, nutrition, Food and beverage technology, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Food Science / General