Innovative Strategies for Food By-Products Upcycling into Functional Ingredients
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: 10 October 2026 | Viewed by 116
Special Issue Editors
Interests: phytochemistry and natural products chemistry; plant-derived bioactive compounds and polyphenols; green extraction and advanced analytical techniques (GC–MS/LC–MS); antioxidant and biological activities of plant extracts; nutraceuticals, functional foods, and agro-food by-product valorization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: advanced drug delivery systems; lipid-based nanocarriers (liposomes, SLN/NLC, nanoemulsions); polymeric and bioadhesive biomaterials for biomedical applications; 3D bioprinting and bio-inspired materials engineering; stimuli-responsive and controlled drug release systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The increasing generation of food by-products along the food supply chain represents a major environmental, economic, and sustainability challenge worldwide. At the same time, these by-products are often rich sources of valuable bioactive compounds, dietary fibers, proteins, lipids, and antioxidants that can be recovered and transformed into high-value functional ingredients.
This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in innovative technologies and strategies for the valorization and upcycling of food by-products into functional ingredients for food, nutraceutical, and health-related applications. Particular attention will be given to sustainable extraction technologies, biotechnological processes, fermentation approaches, and green processing methods that enhance the recovery, stability, and bioavailability of bioactive compounds derived from food processing residues.
We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies addressing topics such as the characterization of food by-products, development of novel functional ingredients, technological and bioprocessing innovations, and applications of recovered compounds in functional foods and nutraceutical formulations. Contributions that explore the environmental, economic, and nutritional impacts of by-product valorization strategies are also encouraged.
This Special Issue aims to promote innovative solutions to reducing food waste, therefore creating added value from food industry by-products, contributing to more sustainable and resilient food systems, with a multidisciplinary approach.
Dr. Francesco Cairone
Dr. Laura Di Muzio
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
- food by-products
- upcycling
- functional ingredients
- food waste valorization
- circular economy
- sustainable food systems
- bioactive compounds
- green extraction technologies
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