Production, Health Benefits and Potential Applications of Bioactive Peptides Derived from Food and By-Products
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Physics and (Bio)Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 166
Special Issue Editors
Interests: protein/peptide function; nutritious supplementary; nutrient delivery; animal product processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: bioactive peptides; functional properties; functional foods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to explore the multifaceted roles of bioactive peptides derived from food and by-products. This Issue will highlight advancements in sustainable production methods, mechanistic insights into their health-promoting properties, and innovative applications in the food and nutraceutical industries.
Bioactive peptides, generated through enzymatic hydrolysis, fermentation, or processing of food proteins, have emerged as key compounds with significant health benefits, including antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial, hypoglycemic, immunomodulatory and promote bone growth activities. With growing interest in sustainable food systems, the valorization of agricultural, marine, and industrial by-products as peptide sources offers a dual advantage: reducing waste and creating high-value functional ingredients. This Special Issue seeks to address gaps in the scalable production, bioavailability, clinical validation, and commercialization of bioactive peptides while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.
Key Topics of Interest
(1) Production and Optimization
- Novel extraction, hydrolysis, and purification techniques.
- Sustainable strategies for recovering peptides from underutilized by-products.
- Advances in fermentation, synthetic biology, or AI-driven peptide design.
(2) Health Benefits and Mechanisms
- In vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies on bioactive peptides’ bioactivity (e.g., cardioprotective, antidiabetic, and neuroprotective effects).
- Structure–function relationships and interactions with human microbiota.
- Synergistic effects of peptide combinations or delivery systems (e.g., encapsulation).
(3) Potential Applications
- Functional foods, nutraceuticals, and dietary supplements fortified with bioactive peptides.
- Pharmaceutical applications (e.g., antimicrobial peptides and drug delivery).
Dr. Xiaowei Zhang
Dr. Ting Zhang
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
- bioactive peptides
- functional foods
- health benefits
- food by-products
- sustainable production
- bioavailability
- targeted delivery
- potential applications
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