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## IntechOpen Book Series Biochemistry

Volume 41

### Aims and Scope of the Series

Biochemistry, the study of chemical transformations occurring within living organisms, impacts all of the life sciences, from molecular crystallography and genetics, to ecology, medicine and population biology. Biochemistry studies macromolecules - proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids –their building blocks, structures, functions and interactions. Much of biochemistry is devoted to enzymes, proteins that catalyze chemical reactions, enzyme structures, mechanisms of action and their roles within cells. Biochemistry also studies small signaling molecules, coenzymes, inhibitors, vitamins and hormones, which play roles in the life process. Biochemical experimentation, besides coopting the methods of classical chemistry, e.g., chromatography, adopted new techniques, e.g., X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, NMR, radioisotopes, and developed sophisticated microbial genetic tools, e.g., auxotroph mutants and their revertants, fermentation, etc. More recently, biochemistry embraced the 'big data' omics systems. Initial biochemical studies have been exclusively analytic: dissecting, purifying and examining individual components of a biological system; in exemplary words of Efraim Racker, (1913 –1991) "Don't waste clean thinking on dirty enzymes." Today, however, biochemistry is becoming more agglomerative and comprehensive, setting out to integrate and describe fully a particular biological system. The 'big data' metabolomics can define the complement of small molecules, e.g., in a soil or biofilm sample; proteomics can distinguish all the proteins comprising e.g., serum; metagenomics can identify all the genes in a complex environment e.g., the bovine rumen.

This Biochemistry Series will address both the current research on biomolecules, and the emerging trends with great promise.

## Meet the Series Editor

Miroslav Blumenberg, Ph.D., was born in Subotica and received his BSc in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT in Organic Chemistry; he followed up his Ph.D. with two postdoctoral study periods at Stanford University. Since 1983, he has been a faculty member of the RO Perelman Department of Dermatology, NYU School of Medicine, where he is codirector of a training grant in cutaneous biology. Dr. Blumenberg's research is focused

on the epidermis, expression of keratin genes, transcription profiling, keratinocyte differentiation, inflammatory diseases and cancers, and most recently the effects of the microbiome on the skin. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles and graduated numerous Ph.D. and postdoctoral students.

## Meet the Volume Editors

Dr. Paz Otero received her bachelor´s degree and Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She has held postdoctoral research positions at Limerick Institute of Technology, Ireland (2014–2017); the Institute of Food Science Research, Autonomous University of Madrid (2017–2018); University of Vigo (2020–2022), Spain; and Mountain Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal (2022–2023). She has

published extensively in the fields of food chemistry, toxicology, analytical chemistry, and nutrition with more than 58 research articles, 80 contributions to international congresses, 15 book chapters, and 1 edited book. Dr. Otero also serves as an invited reviewer for several research journals and guest editor for special issues.

Dr. María Fraga Corral obtained a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences in 2009, coursed two master's degrees (2009-11), and a Ph.D. in Food Safety in 2015 from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She has developed postdoctoral stages at Teagasc Food Research Centre, Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Ireland; Mountain Research Centre, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal; and University of Vigo, Spain. She has

experience in analytical detection, validation methods, and extraction techniques, which she has applied to develop different works in the fields of food safety, nutrition, and circular economy. She has published more than forty peer-reviewed articles and twenty book chapters, participated in multiple international conferences and research projects, and served as an invited reviewer for journals.

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