Bioactive Compounds and Strategies for Nutritional Improvement in Muscle Food

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 26 February 2027 | Viewed by 331

Special Issue Editors


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Goiano Federal Institute, Rio Verde 75901-970, GO, Brazil
Interests: aquaculture; genetic improvement; convolutional neural network (CNN); computer vision; freshwater fish
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor

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Guest Editor
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Goiano—IF Goiano, Campus Rio Verde, Rio Verde 75901-970, GO, Brazil
Interests: functional foods; bioactive compounds; plant-based products; foods for metabolic conditions; sensory analysis; strategies for dietary habit change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality research and review articles on bioactive compounds and innovative strategies for the nutritional improvement of muscle foods, including fish, seafood, and meat products. Emphasis will be placed on the development and application of bioactive compounds, functional ingredients, and antimicrobial and antioxidant strategies to enhance the nutritional value, safety, and shelf-life of muscle foods. This issue welcomes the submission of studies focusing on sustainable processing technologies, fortification approaches, post-harvest quality, and consumer health impacts related to muscle foods. By bringing together contributions in these areas, this Special Issue will provide a comprehensive overview of current advances and future perspectives in the use of bioactive compounds and technological innovations for enhancing the quality and nutritional properties of muscle foods.

Dr. Adriano Costa
Prof. Dr. Leandro Pereira Cappato
Dr. Mariana Buranelo Egea
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • muscle foods
  • fish and seafood
  • meat quality
  • bioactive compounds
  • functional ingredients
  • nutritional improvement
  • sustainable processing
  • antimicrobial strategies
  • antioxidants
  • organic acids
  • essential oils
  • shelf-life extension
  • food safety
  • health-promoting properties
  • aquaculture nutrition
  • food fortification
  • technological innovations
  • consumer health
  • post-harvest quality
  • food bioactivity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

37 pages, 4200 KB  
Review
Food and Medicine Homology Substances as Potential Modulators of the Gut–Muscle Axis in Animal Meat Quality: A Review
by Zi-Qun Zhang, Fang-Fang Guo, An-Lang Sun, Li Wang and Shu-Cheng Huang
Foods 2026, 15(11), 1946; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15111946 - 1 Jun 2026
Abstract
Food and medicine homology (FMH) substances are increasingly utilized as nutritional and medicinal resources in sustainable livestock production. Their active ingredients include polysaccharides, flavonoids, and terpenes, which may positively affect livestock meat quality by maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis, enhancing intestinal barrier function, and [...] Read more.
Food and medicine homology (FMH) substances are increasingly utilized as nutritional and medicinal resources in sustainable livestock production. Their active ingredients include polysaccharides, flavonoids, and terpenes, which may positively affect livestock meat quality by maintaining gut microbiota homeostasis, enhancing intestinal barrier function, and facilitating nutrient absorption, as well as regulating key signaling pathways such as mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). Notably, the meat quality improvement can also be indirectly achieved via the gut–muscle axis. Gut microbiota metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs), and amino acid derivatives, modulate microbial homeostasis, intestinal barrier function, and nutrient absorption through the gut microbiota–metabolite axis, gut–immune axis, and nutrient absorption–signaling axis. These processes remotely regulate skeletal muscle metabolism, inflammation, and fiber type transformation, ultimately influencing meat tenderness, flavor, juiciness, and nutritional value. Despite their potential to reduce reliance on antibiotic growth promoters and enhance meat quality, multiple challenges persist, including complex component profiles, elusive mechanisms, undefined dose–effect relationships, inadequate standardization, insufficient safety evaluation and scarce direct trials on livestock meat quality endpoints. This review summarizes FMH substances that modulate the gut–muscle axis in meat quality regulation across different animal species and outlines their application prospects, aiming to facilitate antibiotic-free agriculture, the development of green functional feeds, and sustainable animal husbandry. Full article
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