Protein Hydrolysates: Structure, Functions and Their Application in Food
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: 15 August 2025 | Viewed by 613
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bioactive peptides; novel food ingredients; alternative proteins
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant based proteins; bioactive peptides; natural pigments; anthocyanins; obesity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant biotechnology and biochemistry; functional foods; proteins of food interest: obtaining and characterization; fructans: obtaining; characterization and health effects
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Dietary proteins play an essential role in multiple human metabolic functions. In addition to their physiological functions, proteins also participate in numerous physicochemical interactions within the food matrix when used as ingredients, resulting in different techno-functional properties. The solubility, emulsifying capacity, water retention capacity, oil retention capacity, foaming capacity, and gelling capacity of proteins are affected by protein structure, amino acid profile, and protein size, among other factors. To enhance consumers’ acceptance, the structure of proteins is often modified to improve proteins’ techno-functional properties and behavior in food formulations. Enzymatic protein hydrolysis has been widely used to modify proteins and generate protein hydrolysates and peptides. Protein hydrolysates have been recognized for their biological potential; moreover, those protein fractions could be added to food formulations as functional ingredients to improve their nutritional content or to improve the techno-functional properties of food. However, there is still a need to address important aspects of the use of protein hydrolysates as food ingredients, including the interaction with the food matrix, impact on food techno-functional properties, stability, flavor, and their impact on food acceptance.
This Special Issue invites the submission of original research articles and reviews that elucidate recent research on protein hydrolysates from different sources that can be used as food ingredients. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, plant-based protein hydrolysates, alternative protein hydrolysates, peptide characterization, techno-functional properties of protein hydrolysates, food formulation using protein hydrolysates, and physicochemical properties of foods with added protein hydrolysates. A collection of high-quality manuscripts on these topics will be published in this Special Issue of Foods.
Dr. Luis Mojica
Dr. Diego A. Luna-Vital
Dr. Judith Esmeralda Urías-Silvas
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
- food proteins
- peptides
- protein hydrolysates
- food ingredients
- food formulation
- physicochemical interactions
- techno-functional properties
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