Advances in the Use of Beneficial Microorganisms to Improve Nutritional and Functional Properties of Fermented Foods: 2nd Edition
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 14
Special Issue Editors
Interests: lactic acid bacteria; microbiological analysis; DNA
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: targeted isolation and selection of lactic acid bacteria with desirable pro-technological, functional, and nutritional attributes; development and optimization of fermentation processes to enhance plant-derived matrices, including cereals, pulses, and agro-industrial by-products; characterization of fermented food through advanced chromatographic and proteomic methodologies
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Health organizations have recently highlighted the need to improve the nutritional and functional characteristics of foods and beverages as a strategy to prevent chronic disease and enhance global quality of life. Many staple foods are characterized by critical issues such as high glycemic response, low biological value of proteins, high concentration of salt and fat, and the presence of ingredients associated with hypersensitivity reactions; they also often lack functional compounds such as fibers and polyphenols. The use of fermentation and selected starters, such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts, has long been considered an excellent tool for improving the nutritional/functional characteristics of foods via the synthesis of bioactive compounds or through the degradation of antinutritional factors, while ameliorating their organoleptic and technological features. In recent years, natural fermented foods, novel food matrices, and their microbial communities have been studied in order to select microorganisms with characteristics useful for the nutritional/functional improvement of traditional and novel fermented foods.
We welcome authors to contribute their knowledge and expertise to further elucidate the relationship between microorganisms and fermented food quality, safety, and health promoting features, including the following topics:
- Selection and use of new microbial starters for the fermented food sector;
- Set-up of new fermentation protocols for making ingredients and foods with implemented nutritional/functional features;
- Synthesis of bioactive compounds;
- Valorization of non-conventional food matrices by fermentation;
- Improvement of traditional protocols for making fermented foods by using innovative biotechnological options aimed at obtaining nutritional and functional advantages in the final products;
- Microbial diversity in fermented foods;
- Microbial starters for the control of food pathogens and alterative microorganisms;
- Microorganisms and modulation of bioaccessibility/bioavailability;
- Probiotic features of selected starters;
- Microbial metabolic pathways related to the functional properties of fermented foods;
- Microbial genetic traits linked to specific food quality attributes.
Both original papers and reviews are welcome.
Dr. Palmira De Bellis
Guest Editor
Dr. Giuseppe Perri
Guest Editor Assistant
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
- food microbiology
- functional food
- probiotic bacteria
- lactic acid bacteria
- spore-forming bacteria
- antimicrobial activity
- microbial diversity
- sourdough
- bread
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