Fermented Foods in a Sustainable Future: Safety, Quality and Innovation

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, ‘Fermented Foods in a Sustainable Future: Safety, Quality and Innovation’, aims to highlight cutting-edge research that supports the development of safe, high-quality and sustainable fermented food systems. As global interest in fermented foods grows, from traditional, culturally rooted products to modern precision-fermentation technologies, there is an urgent need to better understand the dynamics that influence safety, functional quality and environmental performance. We welcome multidisciplinary contributions that advance microbial safety and hazard management, including work on pathogens, spoilage organisms, biogenic amines, mycotoxins, Antimicrobial Resistance genes (AMR genes), chemical residues and emerging contaminants such as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and microplastics. Submissions addressing microbial ecology and functional genomics of fermentation systems are also encouraged, with emphasis on microbiome profiling, microbial succession, starter-culture innovation and bacteriocin-producing strains. Additionally, we seek research that supports quality enhancement through digitalization, real-time monitoring, sensory and metabolomic profiling and rapid analytical methods. Studies focusing on sustainability, including valorization of food and agricultural side-streams, fermented alternative proteins, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based assessments and resource-efficient production models,  are particularly welcome. Finally, we encourage manuscripts that scientifically characterize traditional fermented foods and explore the preservation and modernization of artisanal fermentation practices. Together, these topics will help shape a safer, more resilient and sustainable future for fermented foods.

Dr. Awanwee Petchkongkaew
Guest Editor

Dr. Weerapong Woraprayote
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Fermentation 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 2100 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.