Advances in Thermal and Non-Thermal Technologies for Foodborne Microbial Inactivation
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 17 July 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: food; non-thermal effects; food processing; microwave foods
Interests: microbial food safety and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Food sterilization is a core technology for ensuring food safety and extending shelf life. Traditionally, thermal processing is the most effective method for microbial inactivation, utilizing steam or hot water as the heating medium. However, traditional thermal processing takes a long time to achieve sterilization. As a result, the nutritional and sensory qualities of sterilized foods deteriorate significantly. With the increasing demand for high-quality foods, novel non-thermal technologies are being developed to control foodborne bacteria to improve the quality of food products. Consequently, research on the application of thermal, non-thermal, and combined sterilization technologies for foodborne microbial inactivation and their underlying mechanisms represents a significant and timely frontier in the field of food science.
We are pleased to announce this Special Issue, ‘Advances in Thermal and Non-Thermal Technologies for Foodborne Microbial Inactivation’. We aim to collate novel investigations focused on the application of thermal and non-thermal technologies to control foodborne microorganisms and improve food quality. We welcome submissions that explore new sterilization and pasteurization methods, present new discoveries related to bactericidal mechanisms, and address related engineering challenges. The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:
- Microwave and radiofrequency;
- High-Pressure Processing (HPP);
- Cold plasma;
- Pulsed Electric Field (PEF);
- Infrared heating;
- Ultraviolet light;
- Ohmic heating;
- Ultrasonication;
- Other emerging technologies.
For this Special Issue, original research articles and comprehensive reviews are welcome. Research themes may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Novel applications or improvements of traditional sterilization technologies;
- Fundamental studies on microbial inactivation mechanisms (e.g., at the physiological, biochemical, or genomic levels);
- Engineering applications, process optimization, and scale-up studies on microbial inactivation;
- Synergistic effects of combined (thermal and non-thermal) processing on microbial inactivation;
- Impacts of processing parameters on food quality and safety.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Donglei Luan
Prof. Dr. Shuxiang Liu
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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
- microbial inactivation
- thermal processing
- non-thermal technologies
- food safety
- shelf-life
- food quality
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