Proteins and Peptides in Food: From Preparation to Properties and Applications
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2026 | Viewed by 575
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food protein; peptides; functional foods; healthier rice products; in vitro digestion
Interests: nutritional composition; food protein modification; functional regulation mechanisms in rice; development of new functional food products; rice product innovation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Proteins and peptides have attracted significant interest as natural and functional ingredients in the food industry, driven by the growing demand for health-promoting and clean-label products. Synthetic additives and processed ingredients often face scepticism due to concerns over safety, allergies, and long-term health impacts. As a result, there has been a shift toward utilizing proteins and peptides, derived from various sources, for their nutritional and functional benefits. These biomolecules represent rich sources of essential amino acids and exhibit a range of bioactive properties, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antihypertensive, and immunomodulatory activity, making them highly valuable in enhancing food quality and functionality. Although proteins and peptides show great potential as multifunctional food ingredients, their application is accompanied by challenges that need to be addressed to maximize their efficacy. Issues such as low bioavailability, instability during processing, potential allergenicity, and a bitter taste can limit their use in food systems. Recent technological advances have focused on developing novel delivery systems and modification methods to overcome these obstacles. Applications such as encapsulation, enzymatic hydrolysis, functional conjugates, and incorporation into edible films and nano-emulsions represent some of the innovative approaches currently being explored to improve the stability, sensory attributes, and bioactivity of protein- and peptide-enriched foods.
Dr. Xinxia Zhang
Prof. Dr. Li 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 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
- protein
- peptide
- modification
- application
- healthier rice products
- nutritional composition
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