Next-Generation Valorization of Agri-Food Byproducts and Waste: Precision Bioprocessing, Circular Bioeconomy, and High-Value Functional Ingredients
A Special Issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158) belonging to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2027 | Viewed by 62
Editor
Interests: dietary antioxidants; phytochemicals; polyphenols; flavonoids and their derivatives; chronic diseases; prevention; molecular mechanisms of action; fermentation; postbiotic metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global agri-food sector generates billions of tons of byproducts and fresh produce waste annually, yet these underutilized biomass resources represent a vast reservoir of nutrients, dietary fiber, proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, and structurally diverse bioactive phytochemicals with significant potential for developing next-generation food ingredients. Transitioning from the traditional linear economy toward a circular bioeconomy requires innovative strategies that transform agricultural residues, food processing byproducts, and surplus produce into high-value functional ingredients, nutraceuticals, and sustainable biomaterials. This transformation is increasingly driven by advances in green and precision bioprocessing technologies, including ultrasound-, microwave-, pulsed electric field-, enzyme-, and supercritical fluid-assisted extraction, precision fermentation, microbial biotransformation, and integrated biorefinery approaches that maximize resource utilization while minimizing environmental impacts.
Recent developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, and multi-omics technologies (metabolomics, microbiomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics) are accelerating the discovery, characterization, and optimization of bioactive compounds and enabling predictive process design for sustainable food manufacturing. These technologies facilitate the development of tailored functional ingredients with enhanced bioavailability, stability, and health-promoting properties through advanced delivery systems such as nano- and microencapsulation. Furthermore, growing interest in Food as Medicine, personalized nutrition, gut microbiome modulation, postbiotics, alternative proteins, and climate-resilient food systems is creating unprecedented opportunities to integrate agri-food waste valorization into future health-promoting and sustainable food production systems.
This Special Issue welcomes original research articles and comprehensive reviews that advance the science and technology of agri-food waste valorization. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, innovative extraction and bioprocessing technologies; precision fermentation and microbial bioconversion; AI-enabled process optimization; multi-omics-guided characterization of bioactive compounds; food waste biorefineries; sustainable ingredient development; functional foods and nutraceuticals; bioavailability and health benefits of recovered phytochemicals; smart encapsulation and delivery systems; food safety and regulatory considerations; consumer acceptance; life cycle assessment; techno-economic analysis; and translational approaches that support commercialization and the development of resilient, low-carbon, and circular food systems.
Prof. Dr. H. P. Vasantha Rupasinghe
Guest Editor
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-anonymized 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
- agri-food byproducts
- food waste valorization
- circular bioeconomy
- sustainable food systems
- functional food ingredients
- precision bioprocessing
- precision fermentation
- green extraction technologies
- bioactive phytochemicals
- artificial intelligence (AI)
- multi-omics
- gut microbiome and postbiotics
- microbial biotransformation
- microencapsulation and bioactive delivery
- food as medicine
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