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Food Fermentation: New Advances and Applications

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 September 2025 | Viewed by 3306

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials, and Industrial Production, University of Naples Federico II, P. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
2. ITP Srl–Innovation & Technology Provider, Via Bisignano a Chiaia 68, Napoli, Italy
Interests: fermentation; functional foods; encapsulation; alginate-based hydrogels; alginates for fermentation; in vitro digestion; pre- and postbiotics

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Guest Editor
Institute of Sustainable Processes (ISP), University of Valladolid, C/Dr. Mergelina, s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Interests: fermentation biotechnology; bioprocess engineering and fermentation technology; food microbiology; prebiotics; functional foods

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials, and Industrial Production, University of Naples Federico II, P. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: food engineering; food processes; chemical engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Niccolò Cusano, Via Don Carlo Gnocchi 3, 00166 Rome, Italy
2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Materials, and Industrial Production, University of Naples Federico II, P. Tecchio 80, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: fermentation; functional foods; encapsulation; alginate-based hydrogels; alginates for fermentation; in vitro digestion; pre- and postbiotics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food fermentation is an ancient, but, given the variety of applications it brings rise to, an always very current, biotechnological process. Since its adoption, it has been used as a method for food preservation; however, it is increasingly becoming a useful tool for the improvement of the sensory, nutritional and/or health properties of foods, enabling the production of functional variants thereof. It is also employed in the production of nutraceuticals biochemicals, food ingredients or enzymes, and can also be considered a sustainable process, capable of facilitating the valorization of agri-food waste. Optimizing the efficiency of the fermentation process and its broader usefulness—for example, in terms of the expected health or technological impacts—depend mostly on the selection of the strain and of the food substrate to be fermented, as well as on other chosen process parameters.

This Special Issue aims to gather together the latest knowledge on food fermentation, focusing on advanced methodologies and applications. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Advanced methodologies to identify, enumerate, and characterize the microorganisms in fermented foods;
  • Advanced methodologies for fermentation processes and the development of novel foods;
  • Scientific evidence of the impacts of fermented foods on human health;
  • Research on the valorization of agri-food waste through fermentation;
  • The engineering of microorganisms for improved or targeted production of specific metabolites.
  • Original works, review papers, and comparative studies are all welcome.

Dr. Francesca Passannanti
Dr. Sara Sáez-Orviz
Dr. Roberto Nigro
Dr. Marianna Gallo
Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Ziarno
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

  • fermentation
  • functional food
  • advanced methodologies
  • novel food
  • nutraceuticals
  • agri-food waste
  • microorganism

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1515 KiB  
Article
Impact of Lactic Acid Bacteria on Immunoreactivity of Oat Beers
by Anna Diowksz, Paulina Pawłowska, Edyta Kordialik-Bogacka and Joanna Leszczyńska
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(7), 3887; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15073887 - 2 Apr 2025
Viewed by 268
Abstract
The common contamination of oats with gluten cereals represents a problem for celiacs. One way to reduce the level of toxic peptides may be hydrolysis by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The study examined the influence of the addition of a LAB starter at [...] Read more.
The common contamination of oats with gluten cereals represents a problem for celiacs. One way to reduce the level of toxic peptides may be hydrolysis by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The study examined the influence of the addition of a LAB starter at the grain malting stage on the immunoreactivity of oat beers using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with rabbit antibodies and human sera. Immunoblotting was used to identify proteins involved in the immunoenzymatic reaction. The immune response to QQQP and PQQQ sequences was much higher in barley and barley malt (64–76% in relation to wheat) than in oats (20%) and oat malts (below 26%). In the case of anti-QQQPP peptide antibodies, the differences were not so pronounced, mainly due to the high heterogeneity of the oat malt samples. The remaining immunoreactivity was effectively reduced during the technological process of beer production. The mashing process contributed most to the decrease in immunoreactivity, with the wort produced from oat sour malt having an immunoreactivity level of lower than 4%. In the subsequent stages of the beer production process, the immune response was further reduced to below 2% in the resulting beer. Although the level of immunoreactivity of oat sour malt assessed with rabbit antibodies was comparable to that of the regular one, oat sour beers presented significantly weaker immune responses than barley beers, which was not always the case with regular oat beers. This proves the beneficial effect of LAB on reducing the immunoreactivity of the raw material. The analysis performed with human sera confirmed this tendency. Although the immune response to oat beer was strongly dependent on individual sensitivity, the remaining immunoreactivity in oat beers after simulated digestion was only 0.6–2.0%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Fermentation: New Advances and Applications)
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25 pages, 4617 KiB  
Article
Effect of Thermal and Non-Thermal Pretreatments and Fermentation on the Amino Acid and Biogenic Amine Content of Oyster Mushroom
by György Kenesei, Meltem Boylu-Kovács, Albert Gashi, Zsuzsanna Mednyánszky, Krisztina Takács and Livia Simon-Sarkadi
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(7), 3509; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15073509 - 23 Mar 2025
Viewed by 322
Abstract
Pleurotus ostreatus, or oyster mushroom, is the most widely consumed and studied species. Because of its high protein and amino acid content, it can be used as a meat substitute. Food quality and composition can be improved by utilizing various technologies, including [...] Read more.
Pleurotus ostreatus, or oyster mushroom, is the most widely consumed and studied species. Because of its high protein and amino acid content, it can be used as a meat substitute. Food quality and composition can be improved by utilizing various technologies, including emerging thermal and non-thermal techniques. The study aim was to determine the effect of various pretreatment technologies on the amino acid and biogenic amine content of fresh and fermented oyster mushrooms. An automatic amino acid analyzer was used to perform a chromatographic analysis on free amino acids and biogenic amines. Significant differences were found between fresh and fermented mushroom samples: the fresh samples showed an increased FAA value (+57%), while blanching and microwaving them stabilized the FAA content. In the other groups, a 9–17% reduction was observed. The total biogenic amine composition increased 11- and 15-fold in the fresh and UV-treated samples (1.89 and 5.05 mg/g, respectively). The blanched samples showed no major change while the other groups increased by two to five times. The results of our study provide an excellent basis for the development of oyster-mushroom-based food products, whether for use in meat products or novel vegan products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Fermentation: New Advances and Applications)
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11 pages, 654 KiB  
Article
Determination of the Antioxidant Capacity of Germinated and Yeast-Fermented Sweet and Bitter Lupin Seeds and Sprouts via Cyclic Voltammetry Compared to the Spectrophotometric and Photochemiluminescence Methods
by Danuta Zielińska, Piotr Gulewicz, Małgorzata Kasprowicz-Potocka and Henryk Zieliński
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(2), 729; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15020729 - 13 Jan 2025
Viewed by 668
Abstract
This paper describes the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of sweet lupin (Lupinus luteus cv. Lord—LLL) and narrow-leaved bitter lupin (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Mirela—LAM) sprouts fermented by yeast, determined by deploying the updated analytical strategy based on three assays. The procedures covered electrochemical, [...] Read more.
This paper describes the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of sweet lupin (Lupinus luteus cv. Lord—LLL) and narrow-leaved bitter lupin (Lupinus angustifolius cv. Mirela—LAM) sprouts fermented by yeast, determined by deploying the updated analytical strategy based on three assays. The procedures covered electrochemical, spectrophotometric, and photochemiluminescence methods. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), the scavenging of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals (DPPH⦁), and photochemiluminescence (PCL) assays against superoxide anion radicals were applied to hydrophilic (ACW) and lipophilic (ACL) fractions, and the data obtained were used to calculate the TAC after sequence extraction of the samples with 80% methanol followed by methanol/hexane (4:1; v/v). The total polyphenol content (TPC) in the hydrophilic fractions was measured using Folin–Ciocalteu reagent. The fermentation of the LLL and LAM seeds had no impact on the antioxidant capacity of their H fractions, whereas it increased the content of their L fractions up to 56%. The germinated lupin seeds of both cultivars showed slightly increased TAC than the fermented ones. The TPC in the yeast-fermented sprouts was slightly higher compared to the LLL sprouts, about twofold higher than in the fermented LLL seeds, and finally almost fivefold higher compared to the LLL seeds. A beneficial effect of fermentation was found with respect to LAM materials. The TAC of the fermented LLL and LAM sprouts measured via CV and PCL assays was almost twofold higher and eight and six times higher, respectively, compared to the seeds. These findings clearly suggest that the seeds of yellow sweet lupin (Lupinus luteus cv. Lord) are the most suitable for producing fermented sprouts with a high content of electroactive polar compounds able to scavenge multiple free radicals of biological and non-biological origin. The updated analytical strategy for the determination of the total antioxidant capacity proved to be a viable tool for screening processed lupin seeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Fermentation: New Advances and Applications)
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21 pages, 1220 KiB  
Article
Fermented Cashew Nut Cheese Alternative Supplemented with Chondrus crispus and Porphyra sp.
by Bruno M. Campos, Bruno Moreira-Leite, Abigail Salgado, Edgar Ramalho, Isa Marmelo, Manuel Malfeito-Ferreira, Paulo Sousa, Mário S. Diniz and Paulina Mata
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(23), 11082; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142311082 - 28 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1438
Abstract
This study is aimed at the development of a fermented cashew nut cheese alternative supplemented with Chondrus crispus and Porphyra sp. and the evaluation of the impact of seaweed supplementation through analysis of physicochemical, microbiological, and organoleptic properties of the developed food products. [...] Read more.
This study is aimed at the development of a fermented cashew nut cheese alternative supplemented with Chondrus crispus and Porphyra sp. and the evaluation of the impact of seaweed supplementation through analysis of physicochemical, microbiological, and organoleptic properties of the developed food products. The total lipid content decreased with the supplementation with seaweeds. Crude protein content also slightly decreased, while elemental analysis showed that mineral and trace element (Ca, K, Mg, Na, Fe, I, Se, and Zn) content increased when C. crispus was added to the paste. The analyses of color and textural (TPA) attributes showed that these were significantly influenced by adding seaweeds to the cashew paste. Generally, the microbiological results comply with the different European guidelines for assessing the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat foods placed on the market, except for aerobic mesophilic bacteria and marine agar counts. Flash Profile analysis allowed for distinguishing sample attributes, showing an increased flavor complexity of the plant-based cheese alternatives supplemented with seaweeds. Overall, the study indicates that seaweed enrichment mainly influenced the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of plant-based cheese alternatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Food Fermentation: New Advances and Applications)
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