applsci-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

State-of-the-Art of Food Science and Technology in Italy

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 4571

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current, state-of-the-art food science and technology in Italy. We would like to invite authors to submit original research articles or review articles on the latest research advances in the field of food science and technology.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • The physicochemical and functional modification of food components; Extraction of natural substances and development of functional food (e.g., active peptides, active polysaccharides, fatty acids, dietary fiber, flavonoids, probiotics, fermented foods);
  • Food brewing technology and brewing microorganisms;
  • Flavor generation and regulation mechanism of fermented food;
  • Food preservation and nutrient retention technology (e.g., emulsions, antimicrobial films);
  • Efficient value-added utilization of food by-product resources;
  • Rapid detection methods for foodborne contaminants (e.g., pathogenic bacteria, biotoxins, process contaminants);
  • Safety evaluation of food additives or food-contact materials, etc.

Dr. Raffaella Boggia
Dr. Federica Turrini
Guest Editors

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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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

  • food science
  • food technology
  • food chemistry
  • food microbiology
  • food packaging
  • food safety
  • functional foods
  • food analysis

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 4191 KiB  
Article
Castanea spp. Nut Traceability: A Multivariate Strategy Based on Phytochemical Data
by Elisabetta Prezzi, Dario Donno, Maria Gabriella Mellano, Gabriele Loris Beccaro and Giovanni Gamba
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(22), 12524; https://doi.org/10.3390/app132212524 - 20 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1319
Abstract
The phytochemical characterization of Castanea spp. fruits is very important for the development of effective strategies for the biodiversity conservation and traceability of chestnuts, as the chestnut is one of the most important Italian and European nut and forest species. In this study, [...] Read more.
The phytochemical characterization of Castanea spp. fruits is very important for the development of effective strategies for the biodiversity conservation and traceability of chestnuts, as the chestnut is one of the most important Italian and European nut and forest species. In this study, several cultivars of C. sativa (sweet chestnuts and “marrone-type”), C. crenata, and hybrids of C. sativa × C. crenata were characterized by spectrophotometric (Folin–Ciocalteu assay for the total polyphenolic content and ferric reducing antioxidant power test for the antioxidant capacity) and chromatographic (high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a diode array UV-Vis detector) protocols to define their phytochemical composition and nutraceutical properties. The phytochemical results were then used to build a multivariate statistical model (by principal component analysis) and obtain an effective and rapid tool to discriminate unknown cultivars (i.e., no information about their origin) belonging to different species. The multivariate approach showed that the genotype was a significantly discriminating variable (p < 0.05) for the phytochemical composition. Polyphenols (in particular, phenolic acids and tannins) have been identified as the main bioactive classes with the highest discriminating power among the different genotypes. The total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (AOC) showed a rich presence of bioactive compounds (74.09 ± 15.10 mgGAE 100 g−1 DW and 11.05 ± 1.35 mmol Fe2+ kg−1 DW, respectively), underlining the potential health benefits and functional traits of chestnuts. The principal component analysis applied to phytochemical variables has proved to be an excellent and effective tool for genotype differentiation to be used as a preliminary method for identifying the species of Castanea spp. fruits with an unknown origin. The present study showed that a multivariate approach, based on phytochemical data and preliminary to genetic analysis, may represent a rapid, effective, and low-cost tool for the traceability and quality evaluation of chestnuts from different species and hybrids with no information on their origin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art of Food Science and Technology in Italy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5416 KiB  
Article
EEM Fluorescence Spectroscopy Coupled with HPLC-DAD Analysis for the Characterization of Bud Derivative Dietary Supplements: A Preliminary Introduction to GEMMAPP, the Free Data-Repository from the FINNOVER Project
by Federica Turrini, Dario Donno, Federica Grasso, Eleonora Mustorgi, Gabriele Loris Beccaro, Maddalena Guido, Teresa Fior, Massimo Grilli, Anna Pittaluga and Raffaella Boggia
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(15), 8679; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13158679 - 27 Jul 2023
Viewed by 898
Abstract
Bud derivatives (BDs) represent a category of botanicals obtained by macerating the meristematic tissues (buds or young sprouts) of plants; widely used since ancient times in complementary medicine, they remain poorly investigated to date. In this study, a contribution is made toward the [...] Read more.
Bud derivatives (BDs) represent a category of botanicals obtained by macerating the meristematic tissues (buds or young sprouts) of plants; widely used since ancient times in complementary medicine, they remain poorly investigated to date. In this study, a contribution is made toward the identification of the correct “a posteriori” attribution of the botanical species in commercial BDs, which is very important for ensuring the quality and safety of these natural products. Excitation–emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy proved to be a rapid, non-destructive and low-cost analytical instrument for providing a preliminary qualitative characterization of the BDs, allowing for the identification of specific spectral regions related to flavonol compounds and cinnamic and benzoic acids, in agreement with the targeted chromatographic analysis (HPLC-DAD), which completely defined a phytochemical profile for each BD considered. This information will be implemented in the first web application for the recognition of vegetable buds, named GEMMAPP, which was designed by the Authors and is proposed as a tool and future scientific data repository for providing information about the main, typical BDs of the France–Italy Alcotra territory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art of Food Science and Technology in Italy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

11 pages, 1179 KiB  
Article
A Dynamic In Vitro Model for Testing Intestinal Absorption of Different Vegetable Food Secondary Metabolites
by Raffaella Colombo, Mayra Paolillo and Adele Papetti
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 5033; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13085033 - 17 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1799
Abstract
Cell-based bioreactors are important tools for evaluating molecule absorption in dynamic conditions, simulating simil-physiological flow, transport, and biological barriers. They allow for absorption and metabolization studies to be performed, obtaining very predictive data of in vivo conditions. In this paper, a new dynamic [...] Read more.
Cell-based bioreactors are important tools for evaluating molecule absorption in dynamic conditions, simulating simil-physiological flow, transport, and biological barriers. They allow for absorption and metabolization studies to be performed, obtaining very predictive data of in vivo conditions. In this paper, a new dynamic model is proposed to evaluate the intestinal absorption and toxicity of different vegetable food secondary metabolites, by using a LiveFlow® bioreactor. Different food secondary metabolites, such as caffeic, quinic, and rosmarinic acids, quercetin, and rutin, belonging to the polyphenols class, were selected. The aim was to study their different intestinal absorptions in order to validate this new system as an alternative strategy or a more advanced method compared to conventional culture systems for absorption screening and testing. The molecule absorption and the potential generation of metabolites were evaluated by RP-HPLC-DAD. This new dynamic platform represents a promising in vitro methodology which can provide more information than the traditional static in vitro approaches, and an efficient alternative to animal models, at least in preliminary experiments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue State-of-the-Art of Food Science and Technology in Italy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop