THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF VITAMIN E

Editors Preedy (nutrition and dietetics, King's College London) and Watson (Arizona Cancer Center, U. of Arizona) assemble 88 contributions from an international roster of practitioners and researchers, who represent the array of disciplines with a stake in discoveries about vitamin E. In the first section articles focus on nomenclature, and on biochemical, physical, and chemical aspects of vitamin E-related compounds, giving overviews of antioxidant activity, free radicals, oxidative stress, and tocopherol composition of oils, and offering discussion of extraction of vitamin E from plant sources, commercial extraction from food sources, and interactions with biomemembrane models, among other topics. Subsequent sections are devoted to dietary and nutritional influences and general effects; cocktails, antioxidant mixtures, and novel analogues; brain, neurological, and optical systems; reproductive systems, the fetus, and the infant; musculo-skeletal systems and exercise; skin; immune and hematological systems; and cancer. Each article begins with an abstract and explanation of abbreviations, and ends with extensive references. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)