From the Field to the Table: Unearthing Wild Fruit Species for Enhanced Prospecting and Utilization—2nd Edition
A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 October 2025 | Viewed by 31
Special Issue Editors
Interests: wild fruit species; environmental change; phenology; morphology; fruit chemical characterization; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: floral biology; fertility; phenology; environmental change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: fruit tree species; plant genetic resources; plant breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Limited knowledge of many wild fruit species contributes to their underutilization. However, these species are valuable, especially as they often contain nutritionally and bioactively rich compounds that make them functional foods and natural sources of pigments. They may also play a crucial role in addressing food and nutritional insecurity, due to their resilience to extreme weather conditions, their ability to withstand biotic and abiotic stress, and their importance as genetic resources for crop breeding. Given these factors, non-traditional and underutilized fruits are considered essential for the mitigation of global food challenges, particularly in the context of sustainable population growth and malnutrition. The objective of this Special Issue is to compile information on the geographic distribution, systematics and phylogeny, phenotypic variability, genetic resources and breeding, phenology, reproductive biology, composition and biological activity, postharvest management, domestication, and sustainable agronomic practices of wild fruit species with significant horticultural potential.
Dr. Miriam Elisabet Arena
Dr. Silvia Radice
Dr. Edgardo Giordani
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. Horticulturae 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 2200 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
- subutilized fruits
- genetic resources
- phenotypic variability
- phenology
- reproductive biology
- management
- horticultural potential
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