Innovative Food Processing Influence on Food Quality Attributes, Antioxidant Activity, and Safety

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 947

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Technology and Assessment, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159 C, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: high pressure processing; innovative methods of food preservation; juices production; bioactive compounds; functional foods; HS-SPME GC-MS; HPLC analysis
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Guest Editor
The Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56/3, 51006 Tartu, Estonia
Interests: sustainable food production; food quality and safety; food processing and preservation technology; nutraceuticals; food for health; novel food products
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In response to growing consumer demands for more sustainable food production, manufacturers, researchers, and other related stakeholders are working to meet these requirements. Today, there is a growing number of publications examining the impact of modern techniques on food shelf life and properties. Food producers are also paying attention to the effects of processing techniques on the environment.

Following these trends, in this Special Issue, we encourage all the related researchers and stakeholders to submit manuscripts on the broadly understood impact of processing on the food quality attributes. We welcome reports analyzing optimal food processing parameters, examining the formation of rheology, texture, or organoleptic properties, as well as changes in the profile of volatile compounds or basic nutritional values. Relevant publications will focus on the impact of thermal and non-thermal processes on polyphenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of food. We specifically invite contributions of work related to long-term effects of processed foods extending product shelf life, convenience, enhanced food safety, consumerism, and standardized green/sustainable productions. In addition, the submission will cover various aspects of sustainable food production and their impact on consumers' health and overall well-being.

Dr. Bartosz Kruszewski
Prof. Dr. Rajeev Bhat
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • processing optimization
  • thermal and non-thermal methods
  • nutritional value
  • organoleptic properties
  • rheology and texture
  • volatile compounds profile
  • storage studies
  • shelf life
  • polyphenolic compounds
  • consumerism
  • socio-economic impacts
  • sustainable food production

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 588 KB  
Article
Comparative Assessment of Semi-Industrial Thermal and Non-Thermal Pasteurization Technologies for Red Globe Grape Juice
by Eden Eran Nagar, Alon Romano, Asher Shazman, Uri Lesmes and Avi Shpigelman
Foods 2026, 15(4), 672; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15040672 - 12 Feb 2026
Viewed by 587
Abstract
Nowadays there is a growing interest in alternative technologies to thermal pasteurization (TP) to ensure food microbial safety while minimizing effects on quality attributes like color, enzymatic activity, and bioactive compounds. However, direct comparisons of technologies are often limited to the prospect of [...] Read more.
Nowadays there is a growing interest in alternative technologies to thermal pasteurization (TP) to ensure food microbial safety while minimizing effects on quality attributes like color, enzymatic activity, and bioactive compounds. However, direct comparisons of technologies are often limited to the prospect of microbial reduction levels. In this study, high-pressure processing (HPP), ohmic heating (OH), and TP were comparatively evaluated in red grape juice focusing on several parameters. Process conditions were selected to achieve a comparable 3-log reduction in total aerobic microorganisms as a benchmarking basis. OH and TP resulted in >90% polyphenol oxidase (PPO) inactivation, whereas HPP achieved ~30%. Instrumental color analysis (CIELAB) showed that HPP better preserved juice color, while OH and TP induced significantly darker products compared to fresh juice. Antioxidant capacity (FRAP) and total monomeric anthocyanin content showed modest, non-statistically significant changes across treatments. Conducted under semi-industrial conditions, this assessment highlights technology-specific trade-offs between enzymatic stabilization, color preservation, and bioactive retention. These findings suggest that HPP is superior for preserving heat-sensitive quality attributes, while OH offers an efficient thermal alternative to TP for achieving high enzymatic stability, providing a framework for industrial selection of preservation strategies based on product quality priorities. Full article
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