Upcycling Food Industry By-Products: Bioactive Ingredients for Nutrition and Health
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 981
Special Issue Editors
Interests: agri-food waste valorization; bioactive compounds; biological activity; by-products; food biotechnology; food microbiology and safety; food & nutrition; functional food; gastrointestinal digestion; gut microbiota; nutraceuticals; nutritional characterization; polyphenols; probiotics
Interests: by-products upcycling for food industry; green chemistry; food & nutrition; confocal microscopy; biochemistry; analytical chemistry; antioxidants; mass spectrometry; food science and technology; super-critical carbon dioxide
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In the context of sustainability and molecular nutrition, the valorization of food industry by-products represents a valuable strategy to recover bioactive compounds and develop functional ingredients with potential health benefits. This Special Issue, entitled “Upcycling Food Industry By-Products: Bioactive Ingredients for Nutrition and Health”, will focus on the nutritional and molecular characterization, extraction, and biological activity of bioactive compounds obtained from agro-industrial residues and other natural sources. We invite original research articles and reviews exploring the structure, composition, and functional properties of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, peptides, vitamins, fibers, and proteins, with emphasis on their bioaccessibility, bioavailability, and molecular mechanisms of action, particularly antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and metabolic effects. We encourage contributions highlighting molecular biology, cellular, and biochemical methods used to elucidate these mechanisms, as well as biotechnological innovations for the sustainable extraction and stabilization of such compounds. Studies addressing the interaction between bioactives and molecular targets related to inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic disorders are welcome. The Special Issue also aims to explore the molecular basis of prebiotic and postbiotic effects, along with nutrigenomic approaches and microbiome modulation for personalized nutrition. While it emphasizes compounds derived from food by-products, submissions involving bioactive compounds from any well-defined natural source are also suitable, provided they include a clear nutritional and molecular focus.
Dr. Giusy Rita Caponio
Dr. Graziana Difonzo
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- bioactive compounds
- food by-products
- functional foods
- molecular mechanisms
- polyphenols
- oxidative stress
- inflammation
- nutrigenomics
- microbiome
- prebiotics
- postbiotics
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