Recent Advancements in Food Processing Technologies for Enhancing Food Quality
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food and agricultural processing; food extrusion technology; numerical simulation
Interests: food extrusion technology; drying; numerical simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
With global consumers demanding higher standards for health, nutrition, safety, taste, and sustainability in food, advanced food processing technologies are gaining prominence for their ability to enhance functional properties, modify microstructure, and improve overall product quality.
The current research frontier has shifted from solely pursuing production efficiency to the precise and intelligent regulation of product quality. This requires a deep understanding of the multidimensional changes (rheological, reaction kinetics, and morphological) of raw material components (proteins, starch, dietary fiber, etc.) during food processing, including ultrasound, 3D printing, pelleting, super-grinding, drying, and extrusion. By leveraging innovative food structure modification techniques (including chemical and enzymatic modification, gelation, and fiberization), novel ingredient applications (e.g., insect protein, single-cell protein, and novel starches), and intelligent control technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence and online monitoring), the on-demand design of key attributes in the final product—such as texture, nutrient retention, digestibility, flavor, and morphology—can be realized.
This Special Issue aims to gather the latest research from scientists worldwide to explore fundamental theoretical innovations and cutting-edge applications in food processing technology, with a focused discussion on quality regulation strategies to advance the scientific development and industrial upgrading of this field.
Dr. Qi Zhang
Dr. Min Wu
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
- • Extrusion
- • CFD simulation
- • Food quality • Intelligent manufacturing • Food processing technology • Structure Modification • Nutrient retention • Quality control • Drying • Printing
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