Animal-Derived Food Resources: Advancing Innovations and Functional Applications
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, and Novel Foods".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 May 2026 | Viewed by 377
Special Issue Editors
Interests: protein; non-thermal processing; structure–function relationships; peptide; probiotics; sensory science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Animal-derived foods represent a vital component of the global diet, providing high-quality proteins, essential nutrients, and bioactive compounds. In response to increasing demand for sustainable, nutritious, and functional food systems, there is growing interest in both traditional and underutilized animal resources, as well as novel ingredients integrated into animal-based products. This Special Issue of Foods aims to highlight cutting-edge research on the development, characterization, and application of animal-derived food resources, including, but not limited to, meat, dairy, eggs, aquatic products, and emerging alternatives.
We invite researchers to submit original research articles, reviews covering the following topics:
- Valorization of Animal By-Products: High-value conversion of processing side-streams (e.g., blood, bones, offal, shells) into edible ingredients, functional additives, or bioactive compounds such as proteins, peptides, collagen, and enzymes.
- Next-Generation Processing Technologies: Application of non-thermal methods (e.g., high-pressure processing, cold plasma, pulsed electric fields), enzymatic engineering, and digital monitoring tools to enhance the safety, quality, shelf life, and native functionality of animal-derived foods.
- Cellular Agriculture and Novel Ingredients: Research on cultivated (cell-based) meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy, along with fermentation-derived proteins, insect biomass, and marine polysaccharides as innovative inputs in animal food systems.
- Structure–Function and Matrix Design: Studies on the behavior of proteins, peptides, and other components in complex food matrices (e.g., meat emulsions, dairy gels) for tailored texture, stability, and bioactivity.
- Species Diversification and Underutilized Resources: Nutritional, sensory, and safety assessments of non-conventional animal sources and traditional regional foods.
- Sensory Science and Consumer Acceptance: Palatability, acceptability, and optimization strategies for novel animal-based products, including those with alternative or upcycled ingredients.
- Traceability, Authenticity, and Nutritional Profiling: Advanced analytical approaches (e.g., spectroscopy, omics) for ensuring origin, preventing fraud, and evaluating nutritional quality.
We welcome high-quality contributions that will support a more sustainable, efficient, and innovative future for animal-derived food production and consumption.
Dr. Maoling Tu
Dr. Hongrui Chen
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
- animal by-product valorization
- non-thermal processing
- cellular agriculture
- structure-function relationships
- alternative proteins
- species diversification
- sensory science
- food traceability
- precision fermentation
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