Novel Strategies to Improve Meat Quality and Shelf Life
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Meat".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2026 | Viewed by 355
Special Issue Editor
Interests: meat science and technology; meat microbiology; meat quality and safety; meat flavor; microbial fermentation; functional starter cultures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Global meat consumption continues to rise, yet the nutritional richness of meat makes it prone to microbial spoilage and lipid oxidation, leading to significant waste and quality deterioration. Growing consumer demand for natural, minimally processed products further drives the need to replace synthetic preservatives with sustainable alternatives. Novel strategies offer transformative solutions to enhance the sensory and nutritional quality of meat and extend shelf life while meeting clean-label expectations.
Therefore, this Special Issue of Foods, entitled “Novel Strategies to Improve Meat Quality and Shelf Life” invites works (original research papers or reviews) on the current state of knowledge of the subject. Specifically, this Special Issue may include, but is not limited to, the following topics:
(1) Natural bioactive preservatives and their mechanisms (e.g., plant extracts, essential oils, probiotics) for inhibiting oxidation and microbial growth;
(2) Non-thermal processing technologies (ultrasound, pulsed electric field, cold plasma, ultra-high pressure) for quality optimization;
(3) Intelligent and active packaging systems (biopolymer coatings, nanoemulsion delivery, colorimetric indicators, RFID sensors);
(4) Clean-label and functional formulations (low-salt/low-nitrite, byproduct valorization, nutritional enrichment);
(5) Postmortem metabolism regulation and quality formation mechanisms.
Prof. Dr. Qian Chen
Guest Editor
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
- meat quality
- shelf life
- natural preservatives
- non-thermal processing
- active packaging
- clean-label formulation
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