Bioactive Compounds in Fermented Beverages

Dear Colleagues,

The production and consumption of fermented beverages has a long worldwide history, starting as a holistic approach millennia ago, being used in different contexts, including social, food, culture, and tradition. These beverages are becoming a growing and important area of research nowadays for their associated health-promoting features. Fermented beverages can be defined as complex mixtures mainly made of water and ethanol, which are produced during fermentation process by using needing yeasts, bacteria, and fungi as actors and originate from matrices such as fruits, grains, cereals, milk, vegetables, tubers, and a variety of substrates. The obtained beverages contain many compounds, e.g., phenols, organic acids, and other aromatic compounds: all of them may impact sensory traits, such as texture, flavor, and aroma, as well as nutritional and health value. Notwithstanding the fact that ethanol is produced during fermentation, with amounts that can range from low to high values, fermented beverages’ possible beneficial effects have been associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, as well as other health beneficial effects, due to the phytochemicals present in them, which are derived from the raw materials used and/or are generated during fermentation. Fermentation provides specific organoleptic characteristics, and the obtained beverages are an interesting source of bioactive compounds that impact human health, e.g., antioxidants, bioactive substances, short-chain fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. The fermentation process is a critical step in the development and activity of bioactives in beverages: the raw materials used and the relevant microorganisms involved in the process, which have functional potential and alcohol resistance, may improve beverages using encapsulation techniques and through the production of desirable bioactive compounds, triggering scientific interest in developing novel functional beverages as vehicles for probiotics. The mechanisms via which fermented beverages, regardless of alcohol content, may act on metabolism and gut microbiota are a novel, challenging area of study. The bioactives that they contain play a key role, and their mechanisms of action still need further and complete clarification. This Special Issue will explore this novel frontier of fermented beverages, aiming to study this area from all perspectives, ranging from composition and chemical analysis to the study of the mechanisms of action of the contained active compounds, as well as their efficacy, their bioavailability, the beneficial effect evaluation of the fermentation products, novel approaches paying attention to the possible use of byproducts or residues from the agro-food area, sustainability, and the study of possible effects on health and the fermented beverage market and functional fermented beverage market.

Prof. Dr. Antonello Santini
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Beverages 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 1600 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.