Natural Bioactive Compounds and Gels
A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 December 2025 | Viewed by 6453
Special Issue Editors
Interests: polyphenols; antioxidant activity; anticancer activity; biological activity; microcapsules; functional foods; nutraceuticals
Interests: pro-health properties; functional foods; secondary metabolites; chromatographic techniques; polyphenols; antioxidant activity
Interests: carbohydrates; starch; hydrocolloids; gels; rheological properies; thixotropy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: secondary metabolites; chromatographic techniques; polyphenols; antioxidant activity; wine chemistry; biological activity of plant-origin food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Natural bioactive compounds, including primarily phenolic compounds, phytosterols, carotenoids, curcuminoids, etc., are currently at the center of various fields of research due to their broad health-promoting properties (e.g., antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, anticancer, and antimicrobial properties). These properties make them valuable candidates for the discovery and development of new nutraceuticals and functional foods. For these reasons, scientists have intensified their research into possible carrier matrices of bioactive compounds for food enrichment, which can improve the shelf life of products, reduce synthetic additives, and strengthen their biological health-promoting effects. One type of matrix comprises gels, i.e., three-dimensional, semi-solid systems consisting of polymer matrices. The physicochemical properties of gels, such as their physical strength and viscosity, can be modified to meet specific application requirements in various fields, including the development of edible active coatings, hydrogels, and micro- and nanocapsules. Therefore, gels have broad and promising prospects for food applications and are expected to provide a new, effective, and solid basis for the development of new foods with the potential to prevent and treat chronic diseases.
The main theme of this Special Issue of Gels is, therefore, the collection of original review and research articles that address issues related to plant bioactive substances and their sources and advanced research on their application to gel matrices available in the form of edible active coatings, hydrogels, and micro- and nanocapsules. Manuscripts on the following topics are especially welcome in this Special Issue: (i) extraction, isolation, characterization, identification, and quantification of bioactive compounds; (ii) processing/preparation of the gel matrix enriched in bioactive compounds; (iii) bioactivity and bioavailability of bioactive compounds from the gel matrix; and (iv) mechanisms of action and interactions between the gel structure and the functionality of bioactive compounds.
Dr. Natalia Żurek
Dr. Agata Pawłowska
Dr. Greta Adamczyk
Dr. Ireneusz Kapusta
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 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. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2100 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
- polyphenols
- bioactive compounds
- HPLC
- biological activity
- gelling agents
- food fortification
- functional additives
- bioavailability
- active coatings
- micro- and nanocapsules
- carbohydrates
- hydrocolloids
- rheology
- thixotropy
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