Lipids : molecular organization, physical functions and technical applications / Kåre Larsson

1. Basic concepts -- 2. Solid state behaviour -- 3. Liquid crystalline lipid-water phases -- 4. The liquid state -- 5. Monolayers in surface films, bubbles and foams -- 6. Lipid interaction with proteins and other polymers -- 7. Dispersions of lipid-water phases -- 8. Emulsion science and technology -- 9. Lipids in biomembranes - drug penetration through membranes -- Membrane mimicking -- 10. Lipids in lubrication -- 11. Role of lipids in human skin -- Skin care formulations and drug penetration -- 12. Polar lipids in gastrointestinal and pulmonary surface layers and administration of exogenous phospholipids -- 13. Drug delivery -- 14. Lipid functionality in foods -- 15. Future aspects of functional applications of lipids

The ambition behind this book is to describe the remarkable diversity of lipid structures as a basis for the understanding of lipid functionality in biological and technical systems. the common food processes involve the disruption of organized biological tissues, releasing biomolecules to reassemble themselves into arrangements which ultimately will become the final food product. Any scientific approach to improvement of food productionmust take the general structural principles and their underlying forces in account. As these changes involve the breaking and creation of interfaces, lipids play a crucial role, as they are the most surface-active of biomolecules. This knowledge is also required in the formulation of drug preparations to control targeting and release. Most industrial applications of lipids involve the unique and and remarkable behaviour at a molecular level. Unless the fundamental properties of the molecules are understood, the only approach in lipid technology is trial-and-error.