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The Development and Application of Functional Foods

Taipei Medical University via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

4 weeks, 2 hours a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Beginner
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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e.g. This is primarily aimed at first- and second-year undergraduates interested in engineering or science, along with high school students aFunctional foods sit at the intersection of nutrition science, food technology, and preventive medicine, and this course offers a rigorous introduction to how such foods are conceived, engineered, and scientifically evaluated. The course opens with the origins of the functional food category — traced back to Japan's 1984 Food for Specific Health Uses (FOSHU) system — before mapping its evolution into a structured four-stage development cycle spanning definition, design, evaluation, and market application. From there, attention turns to fermentation, examined not merely as a preservation method but as a biological upgrading process, in which microbial communities convert raw, low-value ingredients into compounds with measurable physiological effects on gut immunity, metabolism, and inflammation. Two extended case studies anchor the science in real research: fermented wheat and rice bran, evaluated for their impact on intestinal immunity and glucose metabolism, and adlay hull and testa, agricultural by-products refined through solvent partitioning into bioactive extracts studied for uterine leiomyoma, dysmenorrhea, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Across four modules, learners build a systematic framework for assessing how food matrices are transformed, and how those transformations translate into evidence-based functional health outcomes.nd professionals with an interest in programming.

Syllabus

Introduction to Functional Food Development and Application
- This module introduces the concept and development of functional foods. Learners will explore what functional foods are, how the term originated in Japan in 1984 with the creation of Food for Specific Health Uses (FOSHU), and how functional foods differ from dietary supplements. The module explains why functional foods act as a bridge between everyday nutrition and pharmaceutical treatment, and why they are gaining growing attention worldwide, driven by factors such as preventive healthcare trends and consumer preference for natural solutions. Finally, learners will be introduced to the functional food development cycle, a structured four-stage approach covering definition, design, evaluation, and market development.
Designing Functional Food-Fermentation and Nutrition
- This module introduces the science of designing functional foods through fermentation. You will explore what defines functional foods and fermented foods, the historical and evolutionary role of fermentation, and how it improves flavor, preservation, detoxification, and nutritional value. You will then examine the fundamentals of mucosal immunity, including the gut's immune barriers and secretory IgA, and see how these concepts guide real research on fermented by-products like wheat bran and rice bran to support gut health.
Designing Functional Foods Fermentation & Nutrition
- This module introduces the fundamentals of functional and fermented foods through the "Microbial Upgrade" model — picturing fermentation as microbes running a small factory that transforms raw, low-value ingredients into more valuable products. The module covers why fermentation is used, including improved flavor, preservation, detoxification, and nutritional value, followed by the ecological factors that shape microbial communities during fermentation. Two case studies then demonstrate the model in action: fermented wheat bran, shown to raise levels of bioactive compounds and protect against intestinal inflammation, and dual-fermented rice bran, shown to improve glucose and insulin metabolism in a diabetes model. By the end of this module, learners will understand how fermentation transforms food matrices and how these transformations translate into functional health benefits.
From Agricultural Waste to Functional Ingredients — A Sustainable Approach
- This module introduces the concept of turning agricultural waste into functional ingredients using "The Recycling Bin Model" — the idea that discarded material can be sorted, refined, and repurposed into something valuable. Using adlay (Job's tears) hull and testa as the central case study, this module explains how solvent partitioning is used to isolate bioactive compounds from waste, and how these extracts are then tested for real physiological effects — particularly in uterine leiomyoma, dysmenorrhea, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). By the end of this module, learners will understand how agricultural by-products can be scientifically evaluated and applied as functional ingredients for women's health.