Phenolic Compounds in Culinary Herbs and Spices: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties and Health Benefits

Dear Colleagues,

Herbs and spices have been used since ancient times as ingredients that provide flavor and fragrance to foods and beverages or to aid in preserving foodstuffs from spoilage. Many culinary herbs and spices have medicinal properties due to their high levels of phenolic compounds, which are secondary plant metabolites that may also be strong antioxidants. Antioxidants within herbs and spices confer a range of health benefits as part of the human diet, particularly against diseases related to oxidative stress.

This Special Issue will include studies that identify and/or quantify phenolic compounds in a variety of herbs and spices, and discuss the relationship between chemical composition and the resulting antioxidant properties. Research studies describing factors affecting the production of phenolic compounds in culinary herbs and spices – such as agronomic conditions, post-harvest elicitors, cultivar selection, harvest date, or environmental influences – are particularly welcome. Submissions may either be review articles or describe original research.

Prof. Emily D. Niemeyer
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.

• Herbs
• Spices
• Phenolic compounds
• Antioxidants
• Chemical analysis
• Agronomic conditions
• Post-harvest elicitors
• Cultivar