Dear Colleagues,

At present, consumers are becoming increasingly aware that the consumption of functional food promotes their health. Thus, there is considerable interest in developing healthy food products either by the production of high-quality feed to obtain superior raw material for food processing or by the formulation of high-quality food using functional ingredients. Since ancient times, pollen (floral or bee-collected) has been known as “the food of the Gods”. B Due to its divergent chemical composition with special emphasis on biomolecules (i.e., proteins, lipids, sugars), minerals, and bioactive compounds (i.e., phenolics, carotenoids, etc.), it is widely used as dietary supplement. However, in the past decade, owing to a tendency for the consumption of health-promoting food, pollen has been recognized as an important food and feed ingredient, with a limited number of publications that deal with these topics. In addition, pollen can contain some anti-nutrients and toxic compounds (i.e., toxic elements, mycotoxins, pesticide residues, etc.), for which health risk assessments should be done. The possible use of pollen as a functional ingredient can be significantly influenced by its botanical (palynological) origin as well as its production and storage conditions, whereas its possible use as a techno-functional ingredient depends on its physical, chemical, and techno-functional properties. In that sense, there is still missing information about the chemical profile of pollen samples with different geographical and botanical origin (especially in the case of monofloral pollen), the techno-functional properties of pollen, and the health effects of its application in the formulation of different food and feed products.

The aim of this Special Issue is to clarify and contribute to understanding the physical, chemical, functional, and techno-functional properties of different pollen samples, and to consider the perspectives of pollen as a food and feed.

Dr. Aleksandar Ž. Kostić
Dr. Mirjana B. Pešić
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. 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.

• pollen
• floral
• bee-collected
• food ingredient
• feed