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Innovations in Natural Products and Functional Foods

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 208

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
Interests: food science and technology; food processing; food analysis; food quality; food production; processing technology; dairy technology

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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: food science and technology; food processing; food analysis; food quality; food production; processing technology; dairy technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, titled "Innovations in Natural Products and Functional Foods", aims to respond to the demand for healthier and more sustainable products, i.e., foods with a lower environmental impact, more nutritional elements and benefits, and derived from plants that were previously unknown or used to a limited extent. Functional and nutraceutical foods are food products that contribute to improving human and animal health. These products are constantly improving and the scientific community constantly proposes new products and methods for the production of foods that meet the needs of the consumer in order to replace artificial additives that are often dangerous and harmful. These products are at the service of human health thanks to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic, antihypertensive, anti-tumor, immunostimulant, and many other properties.
The aims of this Special Issue are as follows: to propose the use of innovative methods and technologies for the production of functional foods; to evaluate the addition of natural components/substances that improve the functional characteristics of foods by using innovative production and packaging processes, while also maintaining the quality of products high; and to identify new perspectives regarding the chemical and functional properties of foods and other natural products.

We look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Giulia Grassi
Dr. Annamaria Perna
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

  • functional and nutraceutical foods
  • chemical properties of food
  • health properties of food
  • modern methods for functional food production
  • animal research

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 758 KiB  
Article
Bioactive Compounds in Breast Meat of Broiler Chickens Fed with Black Soldier Fly Wholemeal
by Giulia Grassi, Antonio Franco, Carmen Scieuzo, Giambattista Capasso, Giovanni Lomonaco, Rosanna Salvia, Anna Maria Perna and Patrizia Falabella
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(13), 7132; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15137132 - 25 Jun 2025
Viewed by 124
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Black Soldier Fly (BSF) wholemeal on the content of bioactive compounds in broiler chicken breast meat. The experiment involved 45 male Ross 308 broiler chickens randomly assigned to three dietary groups: control diet, control [...] Read more.
This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with Black Soldier Fly (BSF) wholemeal on the content of bioactive compounds in broiler chicken breast meat. The experiment involved 45 male Ross 308 broiler chickens randomly assigned to three dietary groups: control diet, control diet supplemented with 5% (HI5), or 10% (HI10) black soldier fly (BSF) wholemeal. The diets were administered for 35 days. The study found that higher levels of BSF wholemeal meal inclusion significantly improved creatine and carnosine levels, with increases of 22% and 26%, respectively, in the HI10 group compared to the control group. In addition, HI supplementation improved the fatty acid profile, significantly increasing the levels of EPA, DHA, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), while reducing the total PUFA and ALA levels. Antioxidant activity, measured using the FRAP and ABTS assays, was also significantly higher in the BSF-fed groups, particularly in the HI10 group. These results suggest that BSF wholemeal flour can improve the functional and nutritional qualities of chicken meat, thereby enhancing its potential as a sustainable ingredient in poultry diets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Natural Products and Functional Foods)
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