Exopolysaccharides from Lactic Acid Bacteria and Bifidobacteria: Biosynthesis, Techno-Functional Role, and Novel Applications in Beverages

Dear Colleagues,

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) from lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria have received special attention, because EPS may improve textural and health-promoting features of beverages.

This Special Issue aims to build a solid platform to discuss the most recent advances on EPS-exploiting in traditional and novel beverages.

I invite high-quality original research and review papers addressing the topics listed below:

• Biosynthesis of EPS by lactic acid bacteria or bifidobacteria (e.g., species- or strains-specific traits, environmental drivers in EPS production, EPS yields, etc.).
• Structure-function relationships in bacterial or enzymatically produced EPS.
• Characterization of EPS from traditional fermented beverages (e.g., water kefir).
• In-situbiosynthesis of EPS under fermentation of traditional (e.g., yogurt) and novel beverages (e.g., plant-based beverages, etc.).
• Biosynthesis of EPS during fermentation of non-conventional substrates (e.g., food by-products).
• Advances in methods for production, recovery and purification of EPS exploitable as additives for beverages.
• Beverages fortification with EPS, exploiting the pro-technological and health-promoting features of EPS.
• EPS as potential prebiotics.
• EPS-producing lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria as potential probiotics.
• In-vivo studies investigating the health-promoting role of EPS in beverages.
• Synergies between EPS and beverages ingredients, and between EPS and processing methods.

Dr. Pasquale Filannino
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 monthly 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.