Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of Phytochemicals in Foods

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 14 September 2026 | Viewed by 957

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Technique and Food Development, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159c Street, 32, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: volatile compounds; phytochemicals
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Phytochemicals present in foods play a crucial role in promoting human health due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and metabolic regulatory properties. However, their biological activity strongly depends on their bioaccessibility and bioavailability, which are influenced by food matrix interactions, processing conditions and gastrointestinal transformations.

Particular attention is increasingly being paid to the homology of medicine and food and aromatic plants, which are rich sources of phenolic compounds, terpenes and volatile bioactive constituents. These compounds contribute not only to the health-promoting potential of foods but also to their sensory quality. Despite their high functional value, many phytochemicals—especially volatile compounds—are unstable, poorly soluble or susceptible to degradation during processing and digestion, which may limit their physiological effectiveness.

This Special Issue welcomes original research and review articles focused on the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of phytochemicals in food systems, with special emphasis on the following:

  • Bioactive compounds derived from the homology of medicine and food and plant materials
  • Volatile compounds and essential oil constituents
  • Interactions between phytochemicals and food matrices
  • The impact of processing, storage and formulation on compound stability
  • Advanced analytical techniques for identification and quantification, such as GC–MS, LC–MS/MS, metabolomics approaches, in vitro digestion models as well as rapid sensory–chemical analytical tools including the electronic nose (e-nose)
  • Strategies to enhance bioavailability, including encapsulation and novel delivery systems

We particularly encourage submissions employing modern instrumental techniques and integrated analytical approaches that enable comprehensive characterization of volatile and non-volatile phytochemicals and the assessment of their transformations during processing and digestion.

By integrating food chemistry, advanced analytical science and nutritional bioavailability research, this Special Issue aims to deepen understanding and support the optimization of the health-promoting potential of plant-derived compounds in foods.

Dr. Iwona Wojtasik-Kalinowska
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 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

  • phytochemicals
  • bioaccessibility
  • bioavailability
  • volatile compounds
  • analytical techniques

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3523 KB  
Article
Structural Characterization and Antioxidant Activity of a Crude Polysaccharide from Cannabis sativa Leaves
by Zhen Wang, Zhihan Shu, Qun Li, Yixin Shi, Kai Mao and Zichao Wang
Foods 2026, 15(10), 1649; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15101649 - 9 May 2026
Viewed by 321
Abstract
As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Cannabis sativa holds broad prospects for application in the development of functional foods, pharmaceutical formulations, dietary supplements, and cosmetic products. However, the bioactivity of polysaccharides in C. sativa has been largely overlooked. In this study, crude C. [...] Read more.
As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Cannabis sativa holds broad prospects for application in the development of functional foods, pharmaceutical formulations, dietary supplements, and cosmetic products. However, the bioactivity of polysaccharides in C. sativa has been largely overlooked. In this study, crude C. sativa leaf polysaccharide (CSLP) was extracted using the hot-water extraction and ethanol-precipitation method. CSLP contains 64.15 ± 1.96% carbohydrates and 2.13 ± 0.47% protein, with a yield of 6.71 ± 0.84% (w/w). Preliminary structural characterization showed that CSLP was mainly composed of arabinose, galactose, and glucose, with a molecular weight of 28.867 kDa. CSLP not only demonstrated potential in vitro antioxidant activity against ABTS, DPPH, superoxide anion, and hydroxyl radicals, but also repaired H2O2-induced oxidative damage in RAW 264.7 macrophages by increasing the cellular levels of SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px, and reducing MDA levels. Mechanistically, CSLP possibly modulated the Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway in H2O2-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells via upregulating the gene expressions of Nrf2, NQO1, and HO-1, while downregulating Keap1 expression. These results suggest that CSLP could potentially be used as an antioxidant ingredient in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of Phytochemicals in Foods)
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19 pages, 13410 KB  
Article
BSA-Coated Metal–Phenolic Complex Assembly of 8-Shogaol Nanoparticles: Characterization, Stability, and Slow-Release Properties
by Rui Zhang, Xiao-Mei Ma, Kiran Thakur, Fei Hu, Jian-Guo Zhang, Yi-Long Ma and Zhao-Jun Wei
Foods 2026, 15(8), 1365; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15081365 - 14 Apr 2026
Viewed by 444
Abstract
This study reports a self-assembled ternary delivery system composed of bovine serum albumin (BSA), Fe(III), and 8-Shogaol (BSA-Fe(III)-8S) to enhance the stability of this labile ginger-derived bioactive compound. Optimized nanoparticles prepared via one-pot coprecipitation exhibited a particle size of [...] Read more.
This study reports a self-assembled ternary delivery system composed of bovine serum albumin (BSA), Fe(III), and 8-Shogaol (BSA-Fe(III)-8S) to enhance the stability of this labile ginger-derived bioactive compound. Optimized nanoparticles prepared via one-pot coprecipitation exhibited a particle size of 115.14 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.084, zeta potential of +52.23 mV, encapsulation efficiency of 94.93%, and loading capacity of 23.73%. Spectroscopic analyses (FT-IR, UV–Vis, XPS) and fluorescence quenching confirmed the formation of a core–shell metal–phenolic network, where Fe(III) coordinates with 8-Shogaol and BSA forms the outer protein shell. Compared to free 8-Shogaol, the BSA-Fe(III)-8S MPN nanoparticles demonstrated significantly enhanced thermal, UV, and storage stability. During simulated gastrointestinal digestion, the nanoparticles retained 64.04% of 8-Shogaol, compared to only 51.38% for the free compound. Cytotoxicity assays on HEK293 cells confirmed the biocompatibility of the nanoparticles. This BSA-Fe(III)-8S delivery system offers a promising strategy for protecting bioactive phenolic compounds, with potential applications in functional foods and nutraceutical formulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of Phytochemicals in Foods)
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