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A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining...
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A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining Food Quality and Monitoring and Identifying Safety Characteristics

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Packaging and Preservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 2284

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Debao Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Agro-products Quality & Safety in Harvest, Storage, Transportation, Management and Control, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: preservation technology; packaging; advanced material; functional active factor; microorganism; innovative food; edible quality; new technology of food processing
Dr. Qingfeng Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Food Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, China
Interests: development of novel nano-preservation packaging

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

People rely on food as a fundamental human necessity. As living standards improve, consumers' demands for nutritional value, shelf life, and food diversity become increasingly diversified. To meet these consumption and nutritional needs, continuous innovation in new foods is essential, incorporating the latest technologies to ensure optimal quality maintenance. Simultaneously, these new products must be paired with suitable novel (e.g., antibacterial or antioxidant) active packaging materials to effectively preserve quality and nutrition while reducing losses during storage, transportation, sales processes, etc., thereby enhancing the overall value of food. Microorganisms are the primary external factors contributing to food spoilage and deterioration; hence, innovation in food processing techniques, preservation technologies, and packaging materials is imperative. This Special Issue will explore the development of food processing techniques, preservation technologies, and packaging materials.

We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that address these themes. Submissions should provide fresh insights and practical solutions that can contribute to this field.

Dr. Debao Wang
Dr. Qingfeng Yang
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

  • preservation technology
  • packaging
  • advanced material
  • functional active factor
  • microorganism
  • innovative food
  • edible quality
  • new technology of food processing

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 4454 KiB  
Article
Food Safety Distribution Systems Using Private Blockchain: Ensuring Traceability and Data Integrity Verification
by Seung Eel Oh, Jong-Hoon Kim, Ji-Young Kim and Jae-Hwan Ahn
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1405; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081405 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 471
Abstract
The complexity of contemporary supply chains and the rise in foodborne illness cases have made ensuring food safety and traceability a top responsibility on a worldwide scale. Traditional traceability systems are prone to data tampering, fragmentation, and limited compatibility. Public blockchains have scalability, [...] Read more.
The complexity of contemporary supply chains and the rise in foodborne illness cases have made ensuring food safety and traceability a top responsibility on a worldwide scale. Traditional traceability systems are prone to data tampering, fragmentation, and limited compatibility. Public blockchains have scalability, latency, and privacy problems that limit their use in real-time food safety systems, despite the fact that blockchain provides a secure data structure. Using Hyperledger Fabric, GS1 EPCIS standards, and Internet of Things-enabled environmental sensors, this paper suggests a private blockchain-based food safety monitoring system. To guarantee fault-tolerant, high-throughput processing in a permissioned blockchain setting, a Raft consensus mechanism was used. Hyperledger Caliper was used to benchmark the system once it was deployed with four nodes. According to experimental data, transaction throughput peaked at 230.2 TPS and averaged 207.4 ± 10.2 TPS. As the network grew from two to four nodes, latency increased somewhat from 259.3 ± 9.5 ms to 278.7 ± 9.1 ms, while block finalization time stayed below 3.184 ± 0.113 s. Over 114,925 documented transactions, data integrity was confirmed to be flawless. These results demonstrate that private blockchain technology can provide effective, scalable, and impenetrable food traceability, boosting openness and confidence throughout food networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining Food Quality and Monitoring and Identifying Safety Characteristics)
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18 pages, 2447 KiB  
Article
Combined Effect of Cold Atmospheric Plasma and Chitooligosaccharide–EGCG Conjugate on Quality and Shelf-Life of Depurated Asian Green Mussel
by Ajay Mittal, Soottawat Benjakul, Nigel Brunton, Deepak Kadam and Avtar Singh
Foods 2025, 14(8), 1399; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14081399 - 17 Apr 2025
Viewed by 313
Abstract
The combined effects of chitooligosaccharide–epigallocatechin gallate conjugate (CEC) at different concentrations (1, 2, and 3%, w/w) and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the depurated Asian green mussel edible portion (AGM-EP) were investigated during refrigerated storage for 15 days. Among all [...] Read more.
The combined effects of chitooligosaccharide–epigallocatechin gallate conjugate (CEC) at different concentrations (1, 2, and 3%, w/w) and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) on the depurated Asian green mussel edible portion (AGM-EP) were investigated during refrigerated storage for 15 days. Among all the treatments, the microbial counts, total volatile bases (TMA-N and TVB-N), and lipid oxidation of AGM-EP-treated 3% CEC in conjunction with CAP (CEC-3-CAP) were lower than the other samples during 15-day storage (p < 0.05). Total viable bacteria (6.16 log CFU/g sample), psychrotrophic bacteria (3.24 log CFU/g sample), Vibrio spp. (2.47 log CFU/g sample), presumptive Pseudomonas (5.93 log CFU/g sample), and H2S-producing bacteria (5.05 log CFU/g sample) counts of the CEC-3-CAP were lower than samples treated with 1 and 2% (w/w) CEC on day 15, as well as samples solely treated using CAP during refrigerated storage, irrespective of storage time. Additionally, CEC-3-CAP had significantly lower lipid oxidation (PV: 8.36 mg cumene hydroperoxide/kg sample and TBARS: 2.65 mg MDA/kg sample) as compared to those without CEC added and other samples (p < 0.05). The incorporation of CEC effectively mitigated lipid oxidation as supported by lower reduction of PUFAs in AGM-EP. Moreover, on day 0, no significant differences were observed in cooking loss or textural parameters (firmness and toughness) among the treatments (p > 0.05). However, as storage progressed, cooking loss increased in the CEC-3-CAP sample, while a noticeable decline in firmness and toughness was recorded (p < 0.05). This further attributed to the lower likeness attained for CAP-3-CAP on day 12, but the score was higher than the acceptable limit (5.0). Therefore, CAP together with CEC is a promising technology to prolong the shelf-life of depurated AGM-EP by at least 9 days as compared to the control (3 days), but it certainly needs further studies for the retention of textural properties and sensorial attributes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining Food Quality and Monitoring and Identifying Safety Characteristics)
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16 pages, 5966 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Packaging Barrier Properties Coupled with Storage Temperatures on the Dominant Spoilage Bacteria Composition and Freshness Quality of Lamb
by Debao Wang, Xiaoyu Chai, Su Wang, Tongtong Zhao, Xiaochun Zheng, Weili Rao, Huiguo Yang, Dequan Zhang and Chengli Hou
Foods 2025, 14(3), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14030343 - 21 Jan 2025
Viewed by 792
Abstract
This study aims to establish a preservation method by coupling certain barrier packaging with storage temperatures suitable for extending the shelf of chilled lamb. Chilled lamb was packaged using three different oxygen permeability packaging materials of high-oxygen-barrier packaging (HORP), medium-oxygen-barrier packaging (MORP), and [...] Read more.
This study aims to establish a preservation method by coupling certain barrier packaging with storage temperatures suitable for extending the shelf of chilled lamb. Chilled lamb was packaged using three different oxygen permeability packaging materials of high-oxygen-barrier packaging (HORP), medium-oxygen-barrier packaging (MORP), and low-oxygen-barrier packaging (LORP) (1.70, 23.95, and 1631.44 cm3/(m2·24·h·0.1·MPa), respectively, then stored at temperatures of 4 °C and −1 °C for 28 days, respectively. The results of total viable count, pH, color, and volatile basic nitrogen indicate that HORP effectively inhibits the growth rate of surface microorganisms and the oxidation rate of proteins in lamb. The sulfhydryl content, carbonyl value, and electronic nose suggest that the oxidative decomposition rate of lamb during storage at −1 °C is lower compared to storage conditions at 4 °C. The microbial diversity suggests that HORP significantly hinders the growth and reproduction of Pseudomonas and Brochothrix aerobic spoilage bacteria, as well as diminishes the abundance of the dominant microbial community. Herein, utilizing high-barrier packaging with an oxygen permeability of lower than 1.70 cm3/(m2·24·h·0.1·MPa) in conjunction with ice temperature storage at −1 °C is a highly effective preservation method for prolonging the shelf life of chilled lamb to 28 days. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining Food Quality and Monitoring and Identifying Safety Characteristics)
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Review

Jump to: Research

29 pages, 8284 KiB  
Review
A Review on Replacing Food Packaging Plastics with Nature-Inspired Bio-Based Materials
by Shengsi Hu, Lu Han, Chenfeng Yu, Leiqing Pan and Kang Tu
Foods 2025, 14(10), 1661; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14101661 - 8 May 2025
Viewed by 529
Abstract
Food packaging is critical to delaying food spoilage, maintaining food quality, reducing food waste, and ensuring food safety. However, the environmental problems associated with petroleum-based packaging materials have led to a search for sustainable alternatives. Bio-based materials are emerging as such alternatives, but [...] Read more.
Food packaging is critical to delaying food spoilage, maintaining food quality, reducing food waste, and ensuring food safety. However, the environmental problems associated with petroleum-based packaging materials have led to a search for sustainable alternatives. Bio-based materials are emerging as such alternatives, but they have limitations such as low mechanical strength and poor moisture resistance. Fortunately, nature’s insights guide solutions to these challenges, propelling the evolution of high-performance bio-based packaging. These new food packaging materials are characterized by impact resistance, superhydrophobicity, self-healing capabilities, dynamic controlled release, high mechanical strength, and real-time freshness monitoring. Nature-inspired strategies not only focus on enhancing material performance but also introduce innovative design concepts that effectively avoid the homogenization of food packaging and inspire researchers to develop diverse, cutting-edge solutions. Overcoming the existing problems of bio-based materials and endowing them with breakthrough properties are key drivers for their replacement of food packaging plastics. This review provides insights into the application of biomimetics in enhancing the functionality of bio-based materials and clearly articulates the key drivers for the replacement of plastic food packaging by bio-based materials. By systematically integrating existing research findings, this paper identifies the challenges facing nature-inspired food packaging innovations and points the way to their future development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue A Novel Perspective on the Advancement of Technology for Maintaining Food Quality and Monitoring and Identifying Safety Characteristics)
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