Alternative Food Proteins and Derived Products: Addressing Nutrition, Health and Sustainability
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 May 2026 | Viewed by 15
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food fermentation; alternative proteins (functionality); ingredient interactions; characterization and optimization of complex food matrices; food safety; valorization of agri-food side-streams
Interests: food analysis; novel technologies such as HPP, PEF, and ultrasound; downstream and upstream processing; side-stream valorization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Alternative protein sources are central to the global transition toward more sustainable and resilient food systems. Plant-based, microbial, insect-derived, and cultured proteins all hold promise, yet their production and/or isolation face significant challenges related to efficiency, scalability, and techno-functional performance. At the product level, many formulations still face difficulties in achieving balanced nutritional profiles alongside desirable structural and textural properties, which are critical parameters for consumer acceptance and long-term dietary integration.
This Special Issue invites original research and comprehensive reviews addressing the full spectrum of alternative food proteins and their derived products, with a focus on nutrition, health, and sustainability. The scope includes not only research related to the production, isolation, and characterization of alternative food proteins but also the development of technological and processing strategies used to create alternative-protein-based food products with improved nutritional and/or functional properties.
We cordially invite you to submit your manuscript to this Special Issue.
Dr. Myriam Loeffler
Dr. Robert Sevenich
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
- alternative food protein sources
- plant-based, microbial, insect-derived, or cultured proteins
- protein production and characterization
- fermentation
- food processing (innovations)
- health-promoting effects
- nutritional profile
- sustainable production
- meat and dairy alternatives
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