Meat Quality Evaluation and Postmortem Muscle Metabolism: Multidimensional Technologies and Regulatory Mechanisms
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: meat science; quality evaluation; physical and chemical properties; texture; testing technology; artificial intelligence
Interests: meat science; meat processing; heterocyclic amine testing; meat processing technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: non-destructive testing of meat; optical detection technology; mechanical damage analysis; volatile component detection; dry food quality; protein oxidative degradation; portable testing equipment
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Meat quality evaluation and postmortem muscle metabolism are interdependent core systems. The metabolism of postmortem muscles directly determines the quality of meat formation: the rate of glycolysis regulates the pH value, affecting water holding capacity; calpain activates and degrades myofibrillar proteins, determining tenderness; and mitochondrial dysfunction leads to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and changes in cellular autophagy levels, collectively affecting the oxidation status of myoglobin (OxyMb/MetMb) and thereby determining meat color stability. Quality evaluation techniques accurately capture metabolic markers: fast detection/intelligent detection technology, such as Raman spectroscopy and carbon dot fluorescence sensing, evaluates freshness in real time by detecting metabolites such as volatile base nitrogen TVB-N8 and lactic acid, and texture and component analyses (shear force, near- infrared spectroscopy) are used to correlate the activity of energy metabolism enzymes (LDH, SDH) and the degree of protein degradation (such as Z-disk fracture), quantifying tenderness and water retention.
The synergy between these two systems reveals the regulatory mechanism of metabolic pathways (AMPK signaling, lactylation modification) on meat quality, providing cross-scale solutions for optimizing cooling strategies and targeted interventions.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Yanlei Li
Dr. Xiaoyan Tang
Dr. Wenxiu Wang
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
- meat quality evaluation
- postmortem muscle metabolism
- glycolysis
- calpain
- reactive oxygen species
- rapid detection technology
- texture analysis
- metabolic pathways
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
