Functional Food Systems—Novel Raw Materials and Emerging Technologies
A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: wheat; lupin; bread; functional food; pasta
Interests: cereal; pulse and industrial crops pathology and disease management strategies; diagnosis and tolerances/resistances to pathogenic fungi of durum and bread wheat genotypes; breeding for cereal and pulse resistance; postharvest management of durum and bread wheat
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
The food sector is currently facing new challenges driven by the demands of increasingly health-conscious, sustainability-oriented, and innovation-seeking consumers. The use of novel raw materials—such as agro-industrial by-products, alternative plant-based sources, and bioactive ingredients—offers a concrete opportunity to enhance the nutritional profile of food products while reducing the environmental impact across the supply chain. At the same time, emerging technologies make it possible to process food matrices without compromising their nutritional and functional quality, opening up new perspectives in terms of safety, stability, and sensory performance. The aim of this Special Issue is to identify effective synergies between innovative ingredients and enabling technologies, with the goal of developing functional foods that meet modern nutritional needs without sacrificing taste and acceptability. The interdisciplinary approach proposed in this Special Issue represents a strategic lever to support the transition towards more sustainable, personalized, and health-oriented food systems.
Dr. Michele Canale
Dr. Alfio Spina
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 foods
- innovative ingredients
- agro-industrial by-products
- natural bioactives
- emerging technologies
- personalized nutrition
- sustainability
- sensory acceptability.
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.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
