Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Production: Modeling, Simulation & Innovation
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 February 2026 | Viewed by 16
Special Issue Editor
Interests: waste treatment; industrial wastewater treatment; waste management; clean technologies; computer-aided process engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Rapid population increase and growing resource constraints are intensifying the need for smart and sustainable solutions to secure the future of food production. At the same time, consumers are increasingly demanding healthier and safer food products, particularly those enriched with bioactive compounds that deliver essential nutrients and energy for modern living. Addressing these challenges requires novel and innovative approaches that more efficiently and extensively exploit available resources. This involves viewing waste and by-products as valuable resources while simultaneously optimizing technologies and production systems to improve material and energy efficiency in the food industry.
Although many laboratory-scale studies have been conducted, limited attention has been paid to evaluating the scalability, economic viability, and environmental impact of producing innovative, bioactive-fortified food products at industrial scale. Process simulation software can support these ambitious goals by providing the tools needed to model, simulate, and analyze complex large-scale operations, thereby revealing the economic and environmental implications of industrial level production. Furthermore, such tools can facilitate the implementation of industrial symbiosis in the food sector by connecting and integrating diverse industries and processes into cogeneration and co-production systems aligned with food manufacturing.
To support the achievement of these goals, we invite the submission of innovative research contributions addressing the theme of this Special Issue, “Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Production: Modeling, Simulation & Innovation”. Subject areas include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Identification and recovery of bioactive compounds from primary and secondary resources;
- Development of innovative foods and materials using by-products or waste materials;
- Novel systems for processing raw materials (e.g., drying, thermal treatment, extraction);
- Conceptual design for sustainable food manufacturing facilities;
- Mathematical modeling and simulation of large-scale production systems;
- Implementation of industrial symbiosis in the food industry;
- Sustainable production practices with low environmental impact;
- Enhanced resource efficiency and productivity;
- Technical, economic, and environmental assessment of cogeneration and coproduction processes.
Dr. Szabolcs Fogarasi
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 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
- bioactive compounds
- cleaner production
- pollution reduction
- innovative foods and materials
- mathematical modeling
- process simulation software
- large-scale production
- industrial symbiosis
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