Recent Trends on Cheese as Functional Food with Great Nutritive and Health Benefits

Book excerpt: Cheese is a palatable and dense model food with great nutritional value. Cheese lovers all over the world have access to an almost overwhelming variety of cheeses. Cheese has many health benefits that go beyond its nutritional and flavor properties. The health benefits are due to the presence of unique bioactive peptides and fatty acids in cheese. Furthermore, cheese is an excellent tool for making functional foods because it can serve as an excellent delivery vehicle for bioactive peptides, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, postbiotics, prebiotics, and other novel bioactive substances. This book offers opportunities for cheese manufacturers, cheese researchers, nutritionists, and even cheese lovers to learn more about the hidden health and nutritive benefits of cheese. The book reflects the trends and innovations in the development of cheese as a functional food.