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New Synthetic and Natural Molecules in the Production of Plant-Based Food—from Farm to Fork

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 1572

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Interests: antimicrobial coatings and materials; disinfection in food production; antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities of chemicals; molds responsible for deterioration; cereal seed treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Fermentation Technology and Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Interests: lactic acid bacteria; biotechnological processes; food production; microbial identification; molecular techniques in microbial detection and identification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are the main source of food for humans and animals. It is estimated that approximately 80% of the food consumed worldwide is of plant origin.

We lose up to 40% of our crops annually due to diseases and pests. Therefore, although plant protection is a difficult task, it is a key element of the functioning of various agricultural ecosystems. Controlling plant pests and diseases with hazardous chemicals causes environmental stress. They are toxic to various living organisms, including humans, animals, and pollinating insects. Safe food is crucial for the health of living organisms, but it is also important to minimize the degradation or destruction of valuable food. For this reason, for several years now, there has been an increasing emphasis on the use of natural plant protection preparations.

On the other hand, the consumption and sale of plant-based products is also growing. However, the shelf life of both raw materials and products of plant origin with a low degree of processing is very short. For this reason, food producers strive to extend the shelf life while improving the quality of plant products and even giving them special nutritional values.

In many countries, projects and research are being carried out to maintain the safety of the entire food production chain of plant origin. This Special Issue gives you the opportunity to share new achievements and research results in the field of plant protection and, therefore, plant-origin foods.

This Special Issue covers applications of natural and synthetic products as herbicides/fungicides/insecticides in plant protection; the use of chemical and natural molecules to extend the shelf life of food products of plant origin foods; natural substances to obtain new products of plant origin with potential health benefits; molecules that protect the ingredients that shape the nutritional value of plant products; essential oils as additives affecting the quality of food of plant origin; and the application of microorganisms and their metabolites in the food chain from organic farms to ready-to-eat food.

We would like to invite researchers to submit high-quality original or review articles to this Special Issue of Molecules.

Dr. Anna Koziróg
Dr. Anna Otlewska
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.

Keywords

  • plant-origin food
  • synthetic molecules
  • natural substances
  • plant protection
  • antimicrobial activity
  • essential oils
  • microbial metabolites
  • food additives

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

34 pages, 4429 KiB  
Review
Synthetic and Natural Antifungal Substances in Cereal Grain Protection: A Review of Bright and Dark Sides
by Tomasz Szczygieł, Anna Koziróg and Anna Otlewska
Molecules 2024, 29(16), 3780; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29163780 - 9 Aug 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1156
Abstract
Molds pose a severe challenge to agriculture because they cause very large crop losses. For this reason, synthetic fungicides have been used for a long time. Without adequate protection against pests and various pathogens, crop losses could be as high as 30–40%. However, [...] Read more.
Molds pose a severe challenge to agriculture because they cause very large crop losses. For this reason, synthetic fungicides have been used for a long time. Without adequate protection against pests and various pathogens, crop losses could be as high as 30–40%. However, concerns mainly about the environmental impact of synthetic antifungals and human health risk have prompted a search for natural alternatives. But do natural remedies only have advantages? This article reviews the current state of knowledge on the use of antifungal substances in agriculture to protect seeds against phytopathogens. The advantages and disadvantages of using both synthetic and natural fungicides to protect cereal grains were discussed, indicating specific examples and mechanisms of action. The possibilities of an integrated control approach, combining cultural, biological, and chemical methods are described, constituting a holistic strategy for sustainable mold management in the grain industry. Full article
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