Bioactive Compounds in Foods and Their By-Products: 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Bioactive compounds from foods and agro‑food by‑products continue to represent a key research frontier linking human health, sustainability, and technological innovation. These molecules—ranging from phenolics and flavonoids to carotenoids, glucosinolates, vitamins, and dietary fibers—exhibit well‑documented antioxidant, anti‑inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties. Their recovery from processing residues also aligns with circular‑economy strategies aimed at reducing food waste.

Building on the strong outcomes of the previous Special Issue, which highlighted the biological potential of plant by‑products and advances in extraction, fermentation, and formulation technologies, this new Special Issue will focus on:

• Strategies to enhance the production and recovery of bioactive metabolites;
• Sustainable extraction, purification, and analytical characterization;
• Emerging green technologies for scalable valorization;
• Delivery systems improving stability and bioavailability;
• Applications in functional foods, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics;
• Fermentation, biotransformation, and microbiome‑related modulation;
• Safety, toxicology, and regulatory aspects of concentrated extracts.

The Special Issue welcomes interdisciplinary contributions across food science, biotechnology, chemistry, agronomy, nutrition, and materials science.

Prof. Dr. Irene Dini
Guest Editor

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