Innovations in Meat Science: Quality Optimization, Sensory Assessment and Sustainable Processing Technologies
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 569
Special Issue Editors
Interests: meat quality; meat flavor; meat processing; meat safety; alternative proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: meat quality; active packaging; physical preservation technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Traditional meat science is striving to produce more efficient, high-quality, safe and sustainable meat products through precise breeding, optimized nutrition, enhanced animal welfare, improved processing techniques and the development of emission reduction strategies. Recent advances are transforming the field by combining cutting-edge technology with traditional practices to address modern challenges. Breakthroughs in genomic selection and nutritional interventions are improving meat quality traits, including tenderness, marbling, and nutritional content, while novel processing methods such as high-pressure processing are being adopted to extend shelf life.
Meanwhile, emerging tools in sensory science, including AI-driven flavor profiling and hyperspectral imaging, are also providing deeper insights into consumer preferences and enabling data-driven product development. At the same time, sustainability is being redefined through innovations in waste valorization, where byproducts are transformed into high-value ingredients, and through energy-efficient systems that reduce the environmental impact of meat production. These multifaceted approaches collectively aim at cost reduction, sensory experience authenticity, nutritional fortification and minimizing environmental footprint through hybrid product development, with the goal of reshaping a diversified and sustainable protein supply chain in the future.
This section focuses on reporting the latest "Innovations in Meat Science", inviting contributions that explore advancements in "Quality Optimization", "Sensory Assessment," and "Sustainable Processing Technologies" to push the boundaries of what's possible in this evolving field.
Prof. Dr. Mingwu Zang
Prof. Dr. Chengli Hou
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
- meat
- quality optimization
- meat flavor
- active packaging
- sensory profiling
- sustainable processing
- emerging technologies
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