Structure and Function of Food Proteins, Peptides, and Amino Acids
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food components; functional proteins; functional peptides; aquatic product processing
Interests: deep processing of aquatic products; interactions between food protein components under extreme conditions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Protein is a core nutrient for human growth and physiological functions, with its structural and functional properties defining its critical role in food systems. Animal-derived proteins—from meat, eggs, dairy, and aquatic sources—have long dominated human diets due to their complete essential amino acid profiles, high digestibility, and superior biological value. Notably, processing techniques such as glycosylation can further enhance the functional properties of animal proteins, including emulsifying capacity, gel strength, and antioxidant activity, thereby expanding their potential for innovative food applications.
Although plant proteins are gaining popularity, animal proteins—especially those from aquatic resources—present unique opportunities for high-value utilization. By-products from aquatic processing, rich in protein, can be transformed through green technologies and molecular modification into bioactive peptides, glycosylated products, and other high-value ingredients, improving flavor, texture, and storage stability. Nevertheless, challenges remain in sustainability, allergenicity, and health-related perceptions. Combining animal and plant proteins into hybrid systems represents a promising direction, offering nutritional completeness and synergistic functional benefits.
This Special Issue highlights sustainable processing and value-added applications of animal proteins, particularly aquatic proteins. We invite research on modification strategies—physical, enzymatic, and glycosylation—to improve functionality and nutritional quality. Studies on animal-plant protein blends and insights into digestion, health impacts, and processing challenges are also welcome. We aim to support advances in efficient, health-promoting, and sustainable animal protein science.
Dr. Yueming Hu
Dr. Hui 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 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
- protein glycosylation
- nutritional quality
- aquatic products processing
- functional peptides
- bioactive components
- food resource utilization
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