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Foods
Special Issues
Active Ingredients and High-Value Utilization of Food Processing By-Products
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Active Ingredients and High-Value Utilization of Food Processing By-Products

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1183

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Matteo Alessandro Del Nobile

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Economic, Management and Territory, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Interests: active compounds in the process and active packaging systems; byproduct valorization; packaging; food preservation; sanitizing techniques; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Amalia Conte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Humanistic Studies, Letters, Cultural Heritage, Educational Sciences, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
Interests: food packaging; food processing and preservation; shelf life extension; functional food; sanitizing techniques; byproduct valorization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

This Special Issue aims to collect research articles and reviews concerning food by-products, due to the interest of the scientific community in this topic. According to current data, some billions of foods are wasted annually, including significant quantities of fruit and vegetable by-products, accounting for approximately 40–50% of the total discards. Environmental pollution and the high cost of disposal represent a global problem. However, food by-products are generally recognized as a significant source of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, fibers or minerals. For this reason, many researchers are endeavoring to reduce the production of by-products, valorize and reuse these valuable resources. It has also been suggested that by-products are utilized in the formulation of new functional foods or in the development of fortified food products. Due to their active properties, some by-products have been employed as natural food additives in order to control detrimental phenomena and prolong the shelf life of products. The value of the compounds contained in food by-products can also be increased by adding them to the polymeric matrix to enhance the properties of polymeric films. Despite the considerable interest in food by-products, research concerning the functional properties of by-products and their incorporation into the food or polymer matrix of fruit by-product-derived phenolic compounds requires further scientific attention.

Prof. Dr. Matteo Alessandro Del Nobile
Dr. Amalia Conte
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

  • by-products
  • food waste
  • sustainability
  • food fortification
  • shelf life extension
  • biopolymeric film
  • active coating
  • antioxidant activity
  • antimicrobial properties

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1529 KiB  
Article
Effects of Grape Pomace Powder Alone and in Combination with Pomegranate Peel Extract and Lactic Acid to Prolong the Shelf Life of Chicken Nuggets
by Maria Luigia Di Corcia, Adriana Lordi, Federica Moccia, Amalia Conte and Matteo Alessandro Del Nobile
Foods 2025, 14(12), 2040; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14122040 - 10 Jun 2025
Viewed by 372
Abstract
In this study different strategies have been adopted to promote the shelf-life prolongation of fresh chicken nuggets. Two different by-products, grape pomace powder (GPP) and pomegranate peel extract (PE), alone and in combination with lactic acid, were suggested as meat preservatives. The antioxidant [...] Read more.
In this study different strategies have been adopted to promote the shelf-life prolongation of fresh chicken nuggets. Two different by-products, grape pomace powder (GPP) and pomegranate peel extract (PE), alone and in combination with lactic acid, were suggested as meat preservatives. The antioxidant properties measured by different assays confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds in both by-products. To test their effects on meat samples, a control nugget without any compounds and a nugget with sole lactic acid were also used for comparison. During a refrigerated storage of about 2 weeks, microbiological stability and changes in sensory properties were monitored to assess the product shelf life. Results demonstrated that GPP promoted a good preservation of meat, and its combination with other compounds further increased the effectiveness. The control without any active agent remained acceptable for less than 1 day, the control with lactic acid for less than 2 days (p > 0.05). The other active samples lasted longer depending on the combinations of active compounds. When the sole GPP was used, about 3 days of shelf life were recorded (p < 0.05). While the combination of GPP with PE promoted only a slight increase of shelf life by 1 day (2.9 vs. 3.9 days), the combination of GPP with LA prolonged the shelf life to more than 6 days (2.9 vs. 6.58 days) (p < 0.05). The best results were found when both LA and PE were combined with GPP because the nuggets lasted about 10 days (p < 0.05). To better highlight the single and combined effects of the tested active agents, a proper index ∆%, comprising the normalized percent difference between the shelf life of the sample with the most antimicrobials and that of the sample with the least antimicrobials, was calculated, thus comparing the various samples and demonstrating the potential synergic effects among them. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Ingredients and High-Value Utilization of Food Processing By-Products)
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25 pages, 4920 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant Peptides from the Fruit Source of the Oil Crop Litsea cubeba Ameliorate FFA-Induced Oxidative Stress Injury: Based on Nrf2/Keap1 Pathway and Molecular Dynamics Simulations
by Li Li, Ying Hu, Yu-Mei Wang, Xiao-Xue Wu, Si-Tong Lin, Hang Li, Ji Zhang, Guo-Rong Fan, Zong-De Wang, Bin Wang and Shang-Xing Chen
Foods 2025, 14(10), 1707; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14101707 - 12 May 2025
Viewed by 489
Abstract
In this study, we systematically investigated the mechanisms of the antioxidation and anti-lipid accumulation effects of antioxidant peptides from Litsea cubeba on a free fatty acid (FFA)-induced NAFLD model of HepG2 cells. The NAFLD cell model was constructed by inducing the HepG2 hepatocellular [...] Read more.
In this study, we systematically investigated the mechanisms of the antioxidation and anti-lipid accumulation effects of antioxidant peptides from Litsea cubeba on a free fatty acid (FFA)-induced NAFLD model of HepG2 cells. The NAFLD cell model was constructed by inducing the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cell line with 0.5 mmol/L FFAs, and AQRDAGLL, QEGPFVR, and DVPPPRGPL were given to the culture to study their lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities on NAFLD cells. The lipid-lowering activities of the three antioxidant peptides were evaluated by Oil Red O staining and TG and TC content assays, and the results showed that all three peptides had strong ameliorating effects on FFA-induced lipid accumulation in NAFLD cells. The intracellular antioxidant protease (CAT, GSH, and SOD) activity levels and lipid peroxidation (MDA) content were measured and intracellular ROS levels were detected. The results showed that after intervention with the antioxidant peptides, the intracellular ROS levels in the NAFLD model cells were significantly reduced, the SOD and CAT activities were increased, the GSH content was elevated, and the MDA content was reduced, which indicated that AQRDAGLL, QEGPFVR, and DVPPPRGPL were able to inhibit the oxidative stress of the cells effectively and to achieve the effect of intervening in NAFLD. JC-1 fluorescence staining experiments showed that the mitochondrial membrane potential function of NAFLD cells was restored under the effect of the antioxidant peptides. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the main driving force between QEGPFVR and Keap1 protein was van der Waals forces, ΔG = −62.11 kcal/mol, which indicated that QEGPFVR was capable of spontaneously binding to Keap1 protein. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Active Ingredients and High-Value Utilization of Food Processing By-Products)
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