Probiotics and Prebiotics in Food Systems: Processing Adaptability, Storage Stability, and Health Functionality

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on probiotics and prebiotics, two pivotal functional components widely applied in modern food systems. With the growing public awareness of nutritional health and gut microecology, the application of probiotics and prebiotics in the food industry has attracted extensive research attention. This summary and the Special Issue mainly explore three core research directions: processing adaptability, storage stability, and health functionality of probiotics and prebiotics in diversified food matrices. During food manufacturing, complex processing conditions including high temperature, pressure, pH fluctuation and mechanical treatment will severely affect the activity and structural integrity of probiotics and prebiotics, which poses great challenges to their industrial application. Meanwhile, the storage environment, such as temperature, humidity and oxygen, exposure is closely related to the long-term stability of these functional ingredients, determining the shelf-life performance of final functional food products. In terms of health functionality, relevant studies cover the regulatory effects of probiotics and prebiotics on intestinal flora, immune modulation, metabolic improvement, and other physiological benefits, as well as the synergistic mechanism of synbiotics. This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review articles that reveal innovative processing technologies, stability improvement strategies, functional evaluation mechanisms, and novel application scenarios of probiotics and prebiotics in food systems. It expects to provide theoretical support and practical references for the development, industrial production, and quality optimization of high-efficiency, stable, and healthy prebiotic and probiotic functional foods, and promote the sustainable innovation and industrial upgrading of functional food research.

Prof. Dr. Dayong Ren
Dr. Jianming Zhang
Guest Editors

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