Specialty Fruit Resources: Processing, Nutritional Value and Food Innovation
A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1661
Special Issue Editors
Interests: fruit wines; nutritional compounds; flavor compounds; cultivation techniques; vinification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: fruit quality; signal transduction; gene function; post-harvest storage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Specialty fruit trees, encompassing a vast array of underutilized, wild and locally adapted species, represent a treasure trove of genetic diversity and unique functional components. Despite their potential, many of these resources remain underexploited due to a lack of systematic characterization, particularly regarding their processing aptitudes. This Special Issue, entitled ‘Specialty Fruit Tree Resources: Processing, Nutritional Value and Food Innovation,’ seeks to address this gap by compiling advanced research that illuminates the entire value chain of these promising fruits.
We welcome contributions that focus on the comprehensive evaluation of processing characteristics, including but not limited to the assessment of rheological properties, thermal stability, drying kinetics, enzymatic susceptibility and the behavior of key components (such as pectins, starches and pigments) during various processing operations. Studies on the development and optimization of novel, mild technologies (e.g., high-pressure processing, microwave-assisted drying and fermentation) are highly encouraged, with an emphasis on how these methods modulate the physicochemical, sensory and nutritional profiles of the final products. Alongside processing, this issue will cover the detailed analysis of nutritional and phytochemical compositions and their associated health benefits. Furthermore, we aim to showcase innovations in transforming these characterized resources into value-added products, such as functional ingredients, stable purees, healthy snacks and natural preservatives. This collection will provide a crucial scientific foundation for the valorization of specialty fruit trees, guiding their sustainable utilization and inspiring the next wave of innovation in the food industry.
Dr. Kekun Zhang
Prof. Dr. Haifeng Jia
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-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
- specialty fruit trees
- processing characteristics
- novel processing technologies
- bioactive compounds
- nutritional valorization
- functional foods
- food innovation
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