Effects of Functional Foods and Dietary Bioactives on Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

The field of functional foods and dietary bioactives has a significant impact on our health and is rapidly evolving. This Special Issue, entitled "Effects of Functional Foods and Dietary Bioactives on Human Health", seeks to highlight state-of-the-art research, critical reviews, and groundbreaking insights into the identification, characterization, and practical application of functional foods and dietary bioactives sourced from the vast diversity of nature, including plants, marine organisms, fungi, and bacteria.

This Special Issue aims to amass a collection of scholarly papers that will captivate the interest of researchers and professionals within the food, nutraceutical, pharmacological, and medical sectors. It endeavors to shed light on the entire discovery process, from the initial isolation of functional foods and dietary bioactives to the complex elucidation of their chemical structures and the mechanisms underlying their biophysiological impacts on health.

Featured within this Special Issue will be the latest advancements in technologies and methodologies that have revolutionized this field, including high-throughput screening and synthetic biology for the sustainable production of functional foods and dietary bioactives. Additionally, the integration of proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics offers profound insights into the biosynthesis of functional foods and dietary bioactives, facilitating the discovery of novel compounds and clarifying their mechanisms of improving human health.

Key topics to be explored in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The discovery and isolation of new functional foods and dietary bioactives and the elucidation of their chemical structure.
• Bioactive compound characterization and their mechanisms of action.
• Their therapeutic potential as nutraceuticals and pharmacological evaluation.
• The synthesis and semi-synthesis of some of the natural or dietary product derivatives and their role as leads in health improvement discovery.
• Technological advancements in dietary phytochemical discovery, product research, regulatory and safety evaluations, and comprehensive reviews and case studies on specific classes of functional foods and dietary bioactives.

Furthermore, this Special Issue will delve into the critical roles that functional foods and dietary bioactives play in health, e.g., combating antimicrobial resistance, their potential as anticancer and neuroprotective agents, and the regulatory and safety challenges that are pivotal in their health promotion or therapeutic application.

Through a meticulous scientific inquiry, this Special Issue aspires to make a substantial contribution to the discovery of new approaches in functional foods and dietary bioactives, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of advancements in human health and wellness. It aims to provide a holistic overview of current research and chart future directions, spotlighting emerging trends and challenges in this vibrant and indispensable field of study.

We invite you to contribute your unpublished, original, and high-quality research on this topic and its related challenges.

Dr. Shaobo Zhou
Prof. Dr. Linhong Yuan
Prof. Dr. Xiao Hu
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. Molecules 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 2700 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.

• food science
• bioactive peptides
• nutrition and health science
• bioactive compounds
• drug discovery
• synthesis
• pharmacological activity
• functional foods