Animal-Based Food Fortified with Natural Bioactives: Balancing Safety, Sustainability and Health Benefits
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2026 | Viewed by 21
Special Issue Editors
Interests: fresh meat; processed meat products; livestock carcass characteristics; cell-cultured meat; livestock products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food chemistry; functional foods; food flavors; flavor chemistry; food processing technologies; food preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global demand for safe, nutritious, and sustainable animal-based foods is rapidly increasing, driven by the aging population, changes in dietary patterns, and the urgent need to reduce the environmental footprint of livestock production. At the same time, increasing attention is being paid to the utilization of natural bioactive compounds derived from plants, marine resources, insects, fermentation products, and animal by-products to enhance the health-promoting properties of meat and livestock products.
This Special Issue, “Animal-Based Food Fortified with Natural Bioactives: Balancing Safety, Sustainability and Health Benefits,” aims to provide an international platform for cutting-edge research on the design, processing, and evaluation of animal-based foods—particularly meat and meat products—fortified with natural bioactives. We welcome studies that investigate how such fortification can improve oxidative stability, shelf-life, sensory quality, gut and metabolic health, immune modulation, and overall functionality, while maintaining product safety and consumer acceptance.
In particular, this Special Issue emphasizes research that links raw material selection, ingredient functionality, and processing technologies with mechanistic insights into health benefits. The application scope covers not only conventional livestock products but also cell-cultured foods and next-generation protein foods developed using advanced technologies, such as precision fermentation, synthetic biology, and AI-based process control. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the incorporation of marine and plant extracts, insect-derived ingredients, fermented or microbial metabolites, functional peptides from livestock by-products, and other bioactive protein-based materials. Studies addressing risk–benefit assessment, regulatory and safety aspects, clean label formulation, and the valorization of underutilized resources to enhance sustainability are also highly encouraged.
This Special Issue welcomes original research articles, reviews, and short communications from academia, industry, and regulatory institutions. Through this collection, we aim to stimulate interdisciplinary discussion and provide practical guidance for the development of next-generation functional animal-based and protein foods that harmonize safety, sustainability, and human health.
We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.
Dr. Jungseok Choi
Dr. Xi Feng
Dr. Sin-Young Park
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. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2900 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
- animal-based foods
- natural bioactives
- functional fortification
- cell-cultured foods
- sustainability
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