Book excerpt: The increasing world population, competition for arable land and rich fishing grounds, and environmental concerns mandate that we exploit in a sustainable way the earth’s available plant and animal resources for human consumption. To that end, food chemists, technologists, and nutritionists engage in a vast number of tasks related to food availability, quality, safety, nutritional value, and sensory properties—as well as those involved in processing, storage, and distribution. To assist in these functions, it is essential they have easy access to a collection of information on the myriad compounds found in foods. This is particularly true because even compounds present in minute concentrations may exert significant desirable or negative effects on foods. Includes a foreword by Zdzislaw E. Sikorski, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland; Editor of the CRC Press Chemical & Functional Properties of Food Components Series. Dictionary of Food Compounds, Second Edition is presented in a user-friendly format in both hard copy and fully searchable CD-ROM. It contains entries describing natural components of food raw materials and products as well as compounds added to foods or formed in the course of storage or processing. Each entry contains the name of the component, the chemical and physical characteristics, a description of functional properties related to food use, and nutritional and toxicological data. Ample references facilitate inquiry into more detailed information about any particular compound. Food Compounds Covered: Natural Food Constituents Lipids Proteins Carbohydrates Fatty acids Flavonoids Alkaloids Food Contaminants Mycotoxins Food Additives Colorants Preservatives Antioxidants Flavors Nutraceuticals Probiotics Dietary Supplements Vitamins This new edition boasts an additional 12,000 entries for a total of 41,000 compounds, including 900 enzymes found in food. No other reference work on food compounds is as complete or as comprehensive.