Functional Peptides: Utilization and Role in Food Products
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Biotechnology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 July 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food
Interests: functional peptides; functional food; enzymatic hydrolysis; physiological activity; antioxidant; lowering blood pressure; absorption and transport; the food industry
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Functional bioactive peptides, as star molecules in the food processing field, have garnered significant attention due to their small molecular weight, high absorption, potent bioactivity, and safety with low toxicity. This Special Issue focuses on the discovery of novel bioactive peptides, optimization of preparation processes, and elucidation of functional mechanisms. We expect submissions to cover the discovery and identification of novel bioactive peptides, including AI-assisted design of novel peptide sequences, mining of unknown bioactive peptides, and structural identification techniques; innovations in efficient and green preparation processes, covering advanced preparation technologies such as enzymatic synthesis, microbial fermentation, and membrane separation, as well as stability enhancement strategies like microencapsulation and molecular modification; studies on structure–activity relationships and molecular mechanisms of action, emphasizing interaction mechanisms between peptide segments and targets, signal transduction pathway analysis, and in-depth elucidation of structure–activity relationships; and practical application cases in functional foods, nutritional health products, and food processing, including applications of antioxidant peptides in infant formula foods, antihypertensive peptides in health food development, and antimicrobial peptides in food preservation. The aim is to provide innovative ideas and technical support for food processing practices and promote the sustainable development of the bioactive peptide industry.
Dr. Dan Wu
Dr. Ji Wang
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
- functional peptides
- physiological activity
- antioxidant
- absorption and transport
- the food industry
- structure–activity relationship
- molecular mechanism
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