Functional Foods Enriched with Natural Bioactive Compounds

Dear Colleagues,

Functional foods offer health benefits that extend beyond basic nutrition. These foods are often enriched with additional nutrients or contain bioactive compounds that can enhance health and reduce the risk of disease. Natural bioactive compounds, found in plants, animals, and other organisms, exhibit biological activity in the body. Compounds such as flavonoids, polyphenols, and carotenoids provide various health benefits, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects. They are crucial in protecting cells from damage, supporting the immune system, and lowering the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer.

The growing interest in developing new functional foods and products fortified with bioactive compounds from natural sources underscores the importance of this field. Utilizing by-products that still contain bioactive compounds can not only improve the taste and properties of food products but also reduce the environmental burden of waste.

This Special Issue aims to cover a broad range of topics, including the development of new functional products, quality assessment of fortified products, sensory analysis of functional foods, chemical composition of natural ingredients, valorization of by-products, long-term health effects of consuming functional foods, the bioavailability of bioactive compounds, and the economic feasibility of large-scale production.

Dr. Natalia Drabińska
Guest Editor

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