Advances in the Recovery of Bioactive Compounds from Foods and Food Processing By-Products and Their Nutritional Impact

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, and Novel Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2026 | Viewed by 1545

Special Issue Editors

School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Interests: method development; chemical analysis; food analysis; novel extraction; bioactive compounds

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Guest Editor
Centre for Nutrtion and Food Sciences, Queensland Alliance for Agriculutre and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Coopers Plains, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
Interests: phytochemicals; bioactive compounds
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Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Food Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Interests: food chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Background and History
The accurate extraction and determination of bioactive compounds from food and processing by-products has become a central topic of research in food science, driven by increasing interest in sustainable resource utilization. Common food-processing residues—such as fruit peels, vegetable trimmings, cereal husks, and seed press cakes—are often rich in valuable health-promoting compounds, including polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamers, anthocyanins, and dietary fibers.

Aim and Scope
This Special Issue aims to highlight innovative methods for extracting bioactive compounds from foods and food processing by-products in order to assess their nutritional and functional properties. Our objective is to promote the future development of circular and sustainable food systems.

Cutting-Edge Research
Recent advancements have introduced a range of innovative techniques—including ultrasound-assisted extraction, fermentation, and label dilution assay methods—aimed at maximizing the recovery of bioactive compounds. These approaches significantly enhance yield and purity, while maintaining environmentally friendly practices. In addition, they enable accurate quantification of bioactive compounds within complex food matrices.

Solicited Papers
We welcome original research articles, review papers, and short communications that explore novel extraction technologies, detailed characterizations of bioactive compounds, and their integration into functional foods and nutraceutical applications.

Dr. Hung Hong
Dr. Michael Netzel
Prof. Dr. Michael Rychlik
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

  • bioactive compounds
  • extraction techniques
  • nutraceuticals
  • sustainability
  • polyphenols
  • carotenoids
  • dietary fibers

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 790 KB  
Article
Microbiota Characterization and Bioactive Potential of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) By-Products: Implications for Sustainable Antimicrobial Applications
by Iris Gudiño, María José Benito, Alberto Martín and Rocío Casquete
Foods 2026, 15(10), 1786; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15101786 - 18 May 2026
Abstract
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) by-products represent an abundant and underutilized source of bioactive compounds with potential applications in sustainable food systems. This study aimed to characterize the microbiota associated with different plant fractions (leaves, stems, and heads) of broccoli (Parthenon [...] Read more.
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) by-products represent an abundant and underutilized source of bioactive compounds with potential applications in sustainable food systems. This study aimed to characterize the microbiota associated with different plant fractions (leaves, stems, and heads) of broccoli (Parthenon and Tritón cultivars) and to evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of their extracts, using cauliflower as a reference. Microbial counts and fungal identification (ITS sequencing) were performed, while phytochemical profiles were analyzed by HPLC-ESI-QTOF. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH and ABTS assays, and antimicrobial activity under in vitro conditions was evaluated against selected foodborne bacteria and phytopathogenic fungi. Broccoli by-products, particularly leaves, showed lower microbial loads in certain cultivars and were rich in phenolic compounds and glucosinolates; however, higher phenolic content did not always correlate with greater antioxidant activity, highlighting the importance of compound composition. All extracts showed strong antibacterial activity at higher concentrations, especially against Listeria spp. Notably, antifungal activity was selective but relevant, with consistent inhibition observed against Alternaria alternata, while Penicillium purpurogenum and Botrytis cinerea exhibited higher resistance. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of broccoli by-products as sustainable sources of natural bioactive compounds for food applications, particularly in the development of preservation strategies and postharvest treatments. Further studies focusing on individual compounds and their specific biological activities are needed to better understand the mechanisms underlying these effects and to support their application in real food systems. Full article
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19 pages, 4907 KB  
Article
DOE-Based Optimization of Dietary Fiber Extraction Process and Bioactivity Evaluation of Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) Processing By-Products
by Juan Chen, Xueting Zhang, Xin Hu, Yan Wen, Dongyan Huang, Xiaoyu Wen, Guiqun Song, Qi Yuan and Xudong Liu
Foods 2026, 15(7), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15071199 - 2 Apr 2026
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Abstract
Plum pomace (PP), a key by-product of plum juice processing, is a rich yet underutilized source of dietary fiber. However, its high-value exploitation is severely limited by the lack of efficient extraction and modification technologies. This study optimized the extraction of soluble dietary [...] Read more.
Plum pomace (PP), a key by-product of plum juice processing, is a rich yet underutilized source of dietary fiber. However, its high-value exploitation is severely limited by the lack of efficient extraction and modification technologies. This study optimized the extraction of soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) from plum pomace (PP) via Design of Experiments (DOE), and evaluated their modification effects. Alkaline extraction was screened as the optimal method for IDF, and orthogonal experiments determined the optimal conditions: solid-to-liquid ratio 1:20 g/mL, 14 g/L NaOH, 60 °C, and 80 min, achieving a high extraction yield of 62.18%. For SDF, enzymatic extraction was superior, and response surface methodology (RSM) optimized the process to a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1:15.5, 1.0% enzyme dosage, 61.5 °C, and 92 min, with a yield of 29.3%. Physical, chemical, and biological modifications all significantly enhanced SDF’s water/oil-holding capacity, cholesterol/glucose adsorption capacity, and cation exchange capacity. Biologically modified SDF showed the most significant enhancement, with WHC of 5.58 ± 0.05 g/g, OHC of 4.38 g/g, CAC of 7.68 mg/g, and CEC of 3.28 mmol/g. These results provide technical support for the high-value utilization of PP and lay a foundation for its application in functional foods and nutraceuticals. Full article
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