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Advanced and Intelligent Biomaterials for Precision Delivery of Food Bioactives:...
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Advanced and Intelligent Biomaterials for Precision Delivery of Food Bioactives: From Molecular Design to Fortification Efficacy

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 13 November 2026 | Viewed by 1506

Editors

Dr. Jinju Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Food Science, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
Interests: emulsion stability mechanisms; nutrient and probiotic encapsulation delivery; protein modification; functional foods
Dr. Xing Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Food Engineering and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
Interests: self-assembly; nanofibril; plant-based proteins; controlled release; functional foods; emulsion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many bioactive substances from plants, animals, and microorganisms have attracted increasing attention from researchers due to the health benefits they provide the human body. However, their application in foods often faces multiple challenges, such as undesired sensory attributes, poor solubility, and poor physicochemical stability. While conventional encapsulation technologies address these issues, this Special Issue aims to pioneer a more fundamental and intelligent approach by focusing on the frontier of advanced biomaterial design as the engine for next-generation delivery solutions.

We seek to move beyond application reports to highlight how rational material innovation constructs programmable, high-performance carriers. This endeavor encompasses, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  1. Rational design and synthesis of novel, food-grade biomaterials (e.g., engineered proteins, structured polysaccharides, self-assembled architectures, upcycled biopolymers) with the development of functional foods and the integration of sustainable technologies.
  2. Stimuli-responsive and “smart” delivery systems whose release mechanisms are programmed at the material level to react to specific physiological or processing triggers.
  3. Multi-scale structural engineering of biomaterial-based carriers, linking their molecular/nano-/microstructure to enhanced stability, bioavailability, resistance to environmental stress, controlled release, and targeted delivery performance.
  4. Mechanistic insights into the interactions between advanced biomaterial carriers, bioactive compounds, and the human gastrointestinal tract to elucidate the pathways to improved efficacy.

This Special Issue will serve as a dedicated platform for research that places material science and engineering at the core of delivery innovation. We encourage the submission of high-quality original research articles and timely reviews that demonstrate how breakthroughs in advanced and intelligent biomaterials are driving the future of precision delivery and fortification in foods.

Dr. Jinju Cheng
Dr. Xing Li
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

  • intelligent delivery systems
  • bioavailability of advanced biomaterials
  • stimuli-responsive release
  • multi-scale structural design
  • bioactive ingredients
  • food fortification
  • interfacial engineering
  • functional foods

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1437 KB  
Article
Prebiotic-Empowered Probiotics with Gastrointestinal Stress Resistance for Enhanced Oral Therapy of Immunosuppression
by Xiaomin Chen, Huangxin Zhu, Zuwei Liu, Qianru Zhao, Ying Zhang, Yiqun Wan and Hao Wan
Foods 2026, 15(9), 1540; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15091540 - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 618
Abstract
Oral probiotic-based therapy has emerged as a promising solution with multifaceted benefits for immunosuppression treatment. However, their widespread and clinical utility is severely limited by the poor viability of probiotics under harsh gastrointestinal conditions in the intestine. To address these challenges, a probiotic-based [...] Read more.
Oral probiotic-based therapy has emerged as a promising solution with multifaceted benefits for immunosuppression treatment. However, their widespread and clinical utility is severely limited by the poor viability of probiotics under harsh gastrointestinal conditions in the intestine. To address these challenges, a probiotic-based biohybrid (Lr@DGN) was bio-orthogonally fabricated by covalently anchoring the prebiotic β-glucan (GN) to the probiotic Limosilactobacillus reuteri (Lr). Upon oral administration, Lr@DGN colonized intestines with high survival rates, aided by gastrointestinal stress-shielding of GN, leading to immuno-enhancing effects through combining GN and live Lr. Consequently, in a Cy-induced immunosuppression mouse model, oral administration of Lr@DGN significantly mitigated body weight loss, restored the key immune organ indexes (thymus and spleen), ameliorated Cy-induced damage to the small intestine, enhanced the intestinal immune response, and elevated the serum levels of immunoglobulins IgG and IgA. By integrating the effects of a prebiotic shield and a live probiotic, this biohybrid system offers a promising and translatable approach for managing immunodeficiency and related disorders. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced and Intelligent Biomaterials for Precision Delivery of Food Bioactives: From Molecular Design to Fortification Efficacy)
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Review

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32 pages, 7708 KB  
Review
Cellulose Nanocrystal-Based Pickering Emulsions as Advanced Biomaterials for Food Bioactive Delivery: Chemical Modification, Synergistic Stabilization, and Functional Applications
by Haochen Ni, Kairu Li, Jiaqi Li, Suyu Li, Haoran Bai, Wenjing Dong, Fuqiang Zhang, Xinxin Yan and Jiaqi Guo
Foods 2026, 15(13), 2286; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15132286 - 25 Jun 2026
Viewed by 511
Abstract
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are renewable and biodegradable nanomaterials that can stabilize Pickering emulsions through steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion. However, pristine CNCs show limited interfacial anchoring because of their strong hydrophilicity and high surface charge density, making the emulsions susceptible to coalescence, phase [...] Read more.
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are renewable and biodegradable nanomaterials that can stabilize Pickering emulsions through steric hindrance and electrostatic repulsion. However, pristine CNCs show limited interfacial anchoring because of their strong hydrophilicity and high surface charge density, making the emulsions susceptible to coalescence, phase separation, and structural instability under environmental stresses. This review summarizes two major strategies for stabilizing and functionally regulating CNC-based Pickering emulsions: chemical modification and synergistic stabilization. Chemical modification regulates CNC surface charge, wettability, interfacial anchoring, and functional group composition through oxidation, amination, esterification, graft copolymerization, desulfation, and etherification, whereas synergistic stabilization constructs composite interfacial films or continuous-phase networks through noncovalent interactions between CNCs and proteins, polysaccharides, cyclodextrins, surfactants, inorganic nanomaterials, or functional molecules. The ability of these emulsion systems to compartmentalize oil-soluble bioactives within structured droplets also provides a basis for improving bioactive stability and release behavior in food-related formulations. These strategies improve emulsion stability and introduce antibacterial, antioxidant, responsive, and controlled-release properties, highlighting the potential of CNC-based Pickering emulsions in active food systems, including food preservation, active packaging, and the stabilization, protection, and release regulation of food bioactives. Remaining challenges in green preparation, structural regulation, release mechanisms, scalable production, and practical evaluation are also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced and Intelligent Biomaterials for Precision Delivery of Food Bioactives: From Molecular Design to Fortification Efficacy)
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