Value-Added Applications of Agricultural Byproducts: Bioactive Components and Sustainable Processing
A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 14
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biopolymers; biodegradable polymers; food waste valorization; native plants; food packaging; green chemistry; nanomaterials; bioactive compounds; sustainable foods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The sustainable utilization of agricultural by-products has become a key strategy to advance the circular bioeconomy and mitigate environmental impacts. These agro-industrial side streams, often discarded or underexploited, are valuable sources of bioactive ingredients such as phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, proteins, fibers and lipids that can contribute to improving the quality, functionality and safety of agricultural and agri-food systems. Recent advances in green extraction and biorefinery concepts have opened new opportunities for obtaining these bioactive components through eco-efficient processing routes aligned with sustainable agricultural production. In addition, emerging strategies such as the nanoencapsulation of agro-based bioactives are increasingly being explored as tools to enhance post-harvest preservation and maintain product quality.
This Special Issue aims to gather interdisciplinary studies focused on the recovery, purification, characterization and application of bioactive ingredients derived from agricultural by-products, with emphasis on value-added uses that enhance agricultural product quality, shelf life and safety.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Green and sustainable extraction or fractionation techniques for agro-residues
- Structural and functional characterization of bioactive ingredients of agricultural origin
- Natural antioxidants, antimicrobial agents and their role in agricultural product quality and safety
- Post-harvest valorization strategies for agricultural by-products
- Circular bioeconomy approaches and sustainability metrics in agro-industrial chains
- Nanoencapsulation and delivery systems of bioactive components for post-harvest preservation and quality
We welcome original research articles, reviews and perspectives.
Dr. Anna Paula Azevedo De Carvalho
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- agricultural by-products
- bioactive compounds
- post-harvest quality
- green extraction
- nanoencapsulation
- sustainable processing
- agricultural product quality
- natural antioxidants
- antimicrobial compounds
- circular bioeconomy
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