Effect of Conventional and Novel Food Processing on Structure and Physicochemical Properties of Foodstuffs

Dear Colleagues,

Food processing involves a wide range of techniques that transform raw foods and ingredients into new products. While some food processing techniques such as fermentation and baking have been practiced for millennia, the use of cutting-edge, emerging technologies like extrusion, freeze-drying, or encapsulation is spurring modern-day innovations in a bid to produce healthy and functional foods. Food processing offers multiple benefits to both the industry and consumers due to the introduction of a more varied food supply, improved nutritional quality and flavour, enhanced food safety, and longer shelf lives. Additionally, novel processing and packaging technologies are facilitating the design of foodstuffs for convenient consumption, such as ready-to-eat meals in flexible microwavable packaging. Freezing and drying techniques have also been demonstrated to help reduce food waste, leading to a decrease in the overall cost while improving sustainability. Nevertheless, understanding the impact of these processing techniques on food structure and physicochemical properties is of utmost importance to guarantee nutritional quality, to increase the bioaccessibility/bioavailability of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, and to lower the amount of additives such as excess salts, sweeteners, available carbohydrates, or artificial preservatives. Health and sustainability are the drivers of the modern era in food processing research and industry.

Dr. Joana Pico
Dr. Anubhav Pratap Singh
Guest Editors

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