Innovations in Clean and Sustainable Food Processing: Circular Bioeconomy and Food Waste Valorization
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Security and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 April 2026 | Viewed by 21
Special Issue Editor
Interests: agroindustrial waste valorization; food processing; enzymatic catalysts; fermentative processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Innovations in clean and sustainable food processing are crucial for addressing environmental challenges and ensuring food security. Recent developments focus on the circular bioeconomy—a model that promotes resource efficiency by transforming by-products and waste into valuable resources, minimizing environmental impact while maximizing economic benefits. One of the key strategies involves food waste valorization, which converts discarded food into new ingredients, biofuels, or bioplastics through advanced biotechnological processes. For example, fermentation and enzymatic treatments enable the extraction of proteins, fibre, and bioactive compounds from various sources.
Furthermore, eco-friendly processing technologies such as green extraction methods, energy-efficient equipment, and renewable energy sources contribute to reducing carbon footprints. These innovations not only improve sustainability but also enhance food safety and nutritional value. This not only supports environmental conservation but also opens new economic opportunities and paves the way for a resilient, efficient, and eco-friendly food industry that aligns with global sustainability goals.
This Special Issue aims to showcase advances in transformation, extraction, and biorefining processes, especially eco-friendly methods for reducing food loss and waste (FLW). It focuses on developing healthier and/or new food products, food-related materials, and others in order to promote the circular economy. Contributions can include original research, short communications, and reviews.
Dr. Carmen Soto-Maldonado
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 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
- sustainable food processing
- circular bioeconomy
- food waste valorization
- eco-friendly technologies
- biorefining processes
- green extraction methods
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