Green Valorization of Food By‑Products: Bioactive Molecules and Food‑Grade Delivery Systems
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 15
Special Issue Editor
Interests: food science and technology; encapsulation; spray drying; food preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue of Molecules spotlights the sustainable valorization of food and agro‑industrial by‑products as sources of high‑value molecules and green delivery systems. We welcome studies that couple explorations of eco‑efficient extraction (cold pressing, pressurized liquids, ultrasound, microwave, and supercritical and subcritical fluids) with rigorous molecular characterization of phenolics, terpenes, lipids, peptides, and polysaccharides. Submissions may also address purification, structure–activity relationships, and the bioefficacy of recovered compounds in antioxidant, antimicrobial, or anti‑inflammatory models. A particular interest is the design of food‑grade encapsulation and delivery platforms—spray‑dried microcapsules, complex coacervates, nanoemulsions, cyclodextrin inclusion complexes, and ionotropic gelation systems—that stabilize sensitive active compounds and enable controlled release in foods, nutraceuticals, and active packaging. Works that integrate circular‑bioeconomy metrics (mass/energy balances, green chemistry indicators), shelf‑life testing, or in silico prediction of stability and release (e.g., QSAR, diffusion modeling) are especially encouraged. Case studies using seeds, peels, pomace, and other side streams from fruits and vegetables are welcome, as are comparative assessments across botanical sources. We invite original research, communications, and critical reviews that advance extraction‑to‑application pipelines and demonstrate robust analytical validation and reproducibility.
Dr. Hugo Miguel Lisboa Oliveira
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- valorization
- food
- agro‑industrial by‑product
- fruit
- vegetable
- botanical
- delivery
- encapsulation
- extraction
- characterization
- cold pressing
- pressurized liquids
- ultrasound
- microwave
- supercritical
- subcritical
- phenolic
- terpene
- lipid
- peptide
- polysaccharide
- purification
- structure–activity relationship
- bioefficacy
- antioxidant
- antimicrobial
- anti‑inflammatory
- spray‑dried microcapsule
- complex coacervate
- nanoemulsion
- cyclodextrin inclusion complex
- ionotropic gelation system
- controlled release
- nutraceutical
- active packaging
- circular‑bioeconomy metrics
- shelf‑life
- in silico
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