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Foods
Special Issues
Artificial Intelligence and Future Food Systems—Innovation and Sustainability
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Artificial Intelligence and Future Food Systems—Innovation and Sustainability

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2027 | Viewed by 1496

Editors

Dr. Malik Hussain

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Agriculture and Food Sciences Discipline, School of Science, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Interests: food innovation and alternative proteins; future food systems; sustainable food and nutrition security; probiotics and biotechnology; food safety standards and regulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Azharul Karim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering, Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
Interests: multi-scale and physics-based modelling in drying; renewable energies and sustainable processing; artificial intelligence and advanced modelling in agri-industrial processes; nanofluid solar thermal storage; thermal storage and lean manufacturing; food quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Omar Mubin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Interests: human computer interaction; exploring the role of robots in education; empirical research in human computer interaction and user-centered design
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping global food systems by introducing innovations that enhance productivity, sustainability, and resilience. AI and Future Food Systems intersect in ways that can transform agriculture, food production, and sustainability. Global food systems face unprecedented challenges, including climate change, population growth, and resource scarcity. AI offers transformative solutions by optimizing agricultural practices, reducing waste, and enabling personalized nutrition. This Special Issue invites submissions that explore the AI-driven transformations across agriculture, supply chains, and consumer nutrition, emphasizing innovation and sustainability of the emerging food systems. The examples of topics that fall within the scope of this SI include the following:

  • Precision Agriculture—AI-powered sensors and drones monitor soil health, crop growth, and water usage.
  • Supply Chain Optimization—AI models to forecast demand, reduce food waste, and improve logistics. Blockchain plus AI to ensure traceability and food safety.
  • Alternative Proteins and Novel Foods—AI in accelerating the research and development for plant-based, cultured meat, and fermentation-based proteins. Machine learning to predict consumer preferences for sustainable diets.
  • Personalized Nutrition—AI-driven apps to recommend diets based on health data and sustainability goals.
  • Sustainability Impact—AI contributes to UN SDGs and climate goals.
  • Challenges and Ethical Considerations—Data privacy, equity and access, and environmental trade-offs.
  • Future Trends—AI plus Robotics for automated harvesting. Generative AI for recipe innovation and food product design.

Dr. Malik Hussain
Prof. Dr. Azharul Karim
Dr. Omar Mubin
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-anonymized 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

  • artificial intelligence
  • food systems
  • food production
  • precision agriculture
  • food innovation
  • climate change
  • sustainability
  • AI models
  • blockchain
  • machine learning
  • robotics
  • future trends

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 4476 KB  
Article
Texture Independently Drives Liking in AI-Generated Alternative Protein Burgers
by Vahidullah Tac, Aeneas O. Koosis and Ellen Kuhl
Foods 2026, 15(11), 2026; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15112026 - 5 Jun 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 712
Abstract
Texture shapes how we perceive and like food, yet clear links between mechanical measurements and sensory perception of texture remain elusive. Here we combine sensory data from a blind tasting involving 101 participants with mechanical texture profile analysis across six burgers to identify [...] Read more.
Texture shapes how we perceive and like food, yet clear links between mechanical measurements and sensory perception of texture remain elusive. Here we combine sensory data from a blind tasting involving 101 participants with mechanical texture profile analysis across six burgers to identify the textural features that drive consumer perception and liking. We compare five burgers—generated via artificial intelligence—with animal-based, plant-based, mushroom-based, and hybrid animal-mushroom patties, and the classical Big Mac®. Three main findings emerge: First, animal-based burgers occupy a distinctive and coherent sensory–mechanical region associated with attributes such as firm, fatty, and holds together. Second, mushroom- and plant-based burgers deviate from this region in protein-dependent ways: mushroom-based burgers are associated with springy and gummy textures, while plant-based burgers are associated with dry, brittle, and crumbly textures. Hybrid animal–mushroom burgers, however, maintain sensory profiles comparable to fully animal-based burgers. Third, resilience emerges as the strongest mechanical correlate of perceived meatiness and sensory texture, while stiffness and hardness show no statistically significant association with consumer perception. Texture independently predicts overall liking alongside flavor: increasing texture liking by one point increases overall liking by 0.28. Among all sensory attributes, meatiness is the dominant predictor of texture liking. These findings suggest that resilience may be a promising target for texture engineering and establish texture as a critical design objective for sustainable alternative proteins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Artificial Intelligence and Future Food Systems—Innovation and Sustainability)
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