Biofortification, which can be defined as the process of increasing the content/density of essential nutrients and/or its bioavailability of food with valuable compounds, is a promising means of increasing nutrient intakes. Traditional fortification practices in which exogenous nutrients are added to food can increase the content of nutrients but the use of biofortified foods with nutrients also may deliver the compounds in a more available form, as well as boost the overall relative effectiveness of these foods in raising nutrients status. Food Biofortification Technologies presents the state of the art in the field of novel methods of fortification and agricultural treatments as a way to improve the quality of obtained food products or compounds enriched with valuable nutrients. The book deals with fortification methods and agricultural treatments, which can improve the quality of food products or other agricultural compounds, providing them with a higher density of valuable nutrients. The utilization of novel products, such as feed additives and fertilizers, can avert nutrients depletion in food products. The book describes new and conventional methods of introducing valuable compounds into food components and presents the application of biosorption, bioaccumulation, and utilization of fertilizers in obtaining designer food. Attention is paid to the use of biomass as the carrier of nutrients such as microelements into the food components. The chapters are dedicated to specific food products and their nutrient components. The first chapter discusses the agronomic biofortification with micronutrients where the fertilization strategies are pointed out as a key to plant/cereals fortification. Other chapters present the fortification of animal foodstuffs such as meat, fish, milk, and eggs as well as the fortification of plant foodstuffs such as vegetables, fruits, and cereals. The book also explores advances in food fortification with vitamins and co-vitamins, essential minerals, essential fatty and amino acids, phytonutrients, and enzymes.
About the Author: Agnieszka Saeid, Ph. D. graduated from Department of Chemistry of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in 2005. She obtained MSc in the field of Biotechnology, specialization Environmental Chemistry. The topic of MSc thesis was "Mineral feed additives based on biomass of microalga Spirulina sp." After graduation, she began Ph.D. studies at Institute of Inorganic Technology and Mineral Fertilizers, at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. During the study, she was granted a scholarship to participate in Postgraduate School of Industrial Ecology (PSIE) - IndEcol at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. In 2010 she defended her Ph.D. thesis on the application of a microalga Spirulina sp. as a carrier of nutritionally significant metal ions in animals feeding and became a lecturer at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. From 2012 she was appointed to the position of Professor Assistant at Institute of Inorganic Technology and Mineral Fertilizers, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. In the year 2016, she was granted scholarships funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland for young outstanding scientists. She continued research work on biosorption and elaboration new products based on natural biomass enriched via biosorption process as feed additives and fertilizers to obtain biofortified food products. In 2010 she got a grant financed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education on the project titled "An alternative method of manufacture of phosphate fertilizers by biological digestion of low-quality raw materials". In 2013 she got another grant financed by the National Centre for the Research and Development in Poland to continue research on the valorization of phosphorus-bearing wastes into phosphorus fertilizers with the utilization of microorganism. She has published over 77 papers, including 69 papers in world-known peer-reviewed scientific journals from JCR list. Her works were cited more than 300 times and h-index: 12. Contributed to the book "Organic farming: New methods, advancements and future" by Elsevier: Chapter "Fertilizers: Need for new strategies" (by A. Saeid and K. Chojnacka) and "Marine algae extracts: processes, products, and applications": Chapter "Algae biomass as a raw material for production of algal extracts" by (by A. Saeid and K. Chojnacka). She edited the book for Wiley: Recent Advances in Trace Elements by Katarzyna Chojnacka, Agnieszka Saeid (expected publication date: 2018). She is also an author of invited two book chapters in "Encyclopedia of Toxicology", (Elsevier: Academic Press) "Sulfuric acid" and "Acids". She participated in many international and national conferences as invited speaker. She was awarded many times, also by President of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (2009, 2011). In the years 2009-2015 she received 8 fellowships for Ph.D. students and young scientists, founded by Human Capital Operational Program (HCOP/POKL) for young outstanding scientists. She is the author of 3 patents and 3 patent application. She cooperates with many universities in the field of multidisciplinary projects.