Structures, Physicochemical Properties, and Applications of Natural Carbohydrates
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Physics and (Bio)Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 3
Special Issue Editor
Interests: food processing; emerging technologies; thermal processing; enzymes; proteins; plant based; milk; fermentation; probiotics; sustainable food development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Natural carbohydrates play a central role in food systems due to their structural diversity and broad range of functional properties. Advances in extraction, characterization, and modification techniques have expanded the understanding of how these biopolymers contribute to texture, stability, water interactions, and mass transfer phenomena in complex matrices. The growing demand for clean-label and sustainable ingredients has also intensified interest in natural carbohydrate-based solutions for technological and nutritional purposes. Recent studies have explored their gelling, thickening, emulsifying, and film-forming capacities, in addition to their contribution to digestibility, glycemic response, and physiological functionality. New analytical tools and processing methods have enabled the elucidation of structure–property relationships and supported their application in innovative food products.
This Special Issue welcomes original research and reviews addressing structural features, physicochemical behavior, technological performance, and emerging applications of natural carbohydrates across food and related industries.
Prof. Dr. Bruno Ricardo de Castro Leite Júnior
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
- natural carbohydrates
- structure-property relationships
- physicochemical properties
- food functionality
- hydrocolloids
- polysaccharides
- carbohydrate applications
- clean-label ingredients
- food formulation
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