The Future of Meat Alternatives: Advances in Plant-Based, Cultured, Microbial, and Insect-Derived Meat
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 May 2026 | Viewed by 674
Special Issue Editors
Interests: meat science; meat quality; alternative proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: meat products; in vitro digestion; cultured meat; plant-based protein
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global demand for sustainable and alternative meat production to supplement traditional farmed meat is a prime focus for the meat scientist. This has led to rapid research in meat alternatives derived from plants, cultured cells, microbes, and insects. This Special Issue focuses on the latest research and developments in the novel techniques, production, characterization, and consumer acceptance of next-generation meat alternatives. By integrating perspectives from food science, biotechnology, nutrition, and sustainability, this collection aims to highlight key challenges, emerging solutions, and future directions shaping the evolution of the alternative meat landscape.
This Special Issue invites original research articles, reviews, and short communications focusing on innovations that improve the nutritional value, sensory quality, functionality, safety, and sustainability of alternative meat products. Contributions integrating food science, biotechnology, nutrition, and consumer research are particularly encouraged.
Topics of Interest Include:
- Advances in plant-based meat production with optimized texture and flavor development
- Cultured meat production: cell line selection, scaffolding, texture flavor development, and scale-up strategies
- Microbial and fermentation-derived proteins, including single-cell proteins and mycoprotein applications.
- Insect-derived proteins and their applications in hybrid meat alternatives.
- Functional, nutritional, and sensory characterization of alternative meats.
- Food safety, stability, and shelf-life assessment of alternative proteins
- Consumer perception, labelling, and market acceptance of meat alternatives
- Future perspectives of sustainable, scalable production of meat alternatives.
Prof. Dr. Seon-Tea Joo
Prof. Dr. Sun Jin Hur
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
- meat alternatives
- cultured meat
- plant-based meat
- microbial protein
- insect-based meat
- texture
- flavor
- scalable production
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