Functional and Fermentative Microbes in Food: Diversity, Ecology, and Applications
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2026 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editors
Interests: enzyme; halophile; safety; fermentaion; archaea
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Beneficial microbes, such as lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, and other fermentative species, have been used for centuries to improve the flavor, safety, and shelf life of food. Recent advances in microbial ecology, taxonomy, and functional genomics have opened up new avenues for researching food-associated microbes with probiotic potential, bioactive metabolite production, and enzymatic functionalities. This Special Issue aims to explore the diversity, ecological roles, and technological applications of beneficial microbes in food systems, with a particular focus on fermentative and functional microbes that contribute to product quality, nutritional enhancement, and sustainable processing.
We invite contributions in the following topics:
(1) Microbial diversity and taxonomy in fermented or functional foods;
(2) Ecology and succession of microbes during fermentation;
(3) Functional attributes of probiotics and postbiotics and their applications in foods;
(4) Enzymes from food microbes for flavor, safety, texture, or nutrient enhancement;
(5) Omics-based insights into microbial interactions and metabolic functions in fermented foods.
We also welcome original research, reviews, and communications related to the following areas of research:
(1) Traditional or novel fermented food microbiomes;
(2) Lactic acid bacteria and other probiotics in food applications;
(3) Microbial enzymes in food applications;
(4) Starter culture development and optimization;
(5) Microbial community structure and dynamics in food systems;
(6) Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny of food microbes.
Dr. Jing Hou
Prof. Dr. Henglin Cui
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. 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
- food fermentation
- probiotics and lactic acid bacteria
- functional microbes
- food microbial diversity
- food microbial ecology
- food microbial taxonomy
- enzymes in food
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