Emerging Bioactives from Underexplored Botanical Sources and By-Products for Food Applications
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Bio-derived Molecules".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 19
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food microbiology; food biotechnology; antimicrobial; polysaccharides; by-products
Interests: phytochemical analysis; essential oil; acaricidal activity; crude extract
Interests: by-products; antioxidant; phenolics; dietary fibers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Botanical matrices, both whole plant sources and by-products, are increasingly recognized as reservoirs of structurally diverse bioactive molecules. These underexplored materials contain phenolics, terpenoids, alkaloids, and other biogenic compounds with relevant biochemical properties and molecular functions. Advances in extraction technologies, metabolomic profiling, and structural characterization have expanded our ability to identify these molecules, evaluate their biological activities, and elucidate their mechanisms of action.
The discovery of new phytochemicals and the clarification of their interactions with cellular targets, redox pathways, and microbial systems are central to molecular biochemistry and chemical biology. Studies addressing structure–function relationships, molecular docking, and in vitro or in vivo bioactivity are particularly important for understanding how these compounds exert antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, or regulatory effects. These molecular activities are highly relevant to food applications, where these compounds may serve as natural antioxidants, antimicrobials, or functional ingredients that enhance food quality, safety, and stability. Furthermore, valorizing botanical by-products as sources of bioactives aligns with emerging biotechnological and bioengineering strategies to diversify natural molecular scaffolds for biological applications, including food systems.
Therefore, it is our pleasure to invite you to submit to this Special Issue dedicated to emerging bioactives from underexplored botanical sources and by-products for food applications, aiming to promote sustainable solutions and expand the use of natural compounds in the food industry.
Dr. Suelen Pereira Ruiz Herrig
Dr. Zilda Cristiani Gazim
Dr. Beatriz Cervejeira Bolanho Barros
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 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. Biomolecules 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 2700 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
- botanical bioactives
- by-products
- natural food additives
- green extraction
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