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Chemistry of Food: From Molecules to Processing
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Chemistry of Food: From Molecules to Processing

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 3802

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Changhong Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China
Interests: agricultural product storage and processing; food quality and safety; phenolic metabolism; rapid non-destructive testing, multi-spectral imaging technology
Dr. Hui Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450009, China
Interests: food green processing techniques; food texture and nutrition qualities; bioactive compounds; antioxidant activity; polysaccharide structure; food byproducts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Qiang Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou 450009, China
Interests: bioactive compounds; biological activity; food nutrients; molecular interactions; functional food

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Food processing often leads to chemical reactions among food compositions. These chemical changes will improve the sensory properties, nutritional qualities and functional features of food products, enrich the food categories and prolong the shelf life. However, the loss of nutritional and sensory qualities always occurs along with some inappropriate processing and manufacture. Even some harmful chemicals will be produced and bring food safety issues. The effects on food qualities are related to the food materials, processing methods, pretreatment techniques and preservation conditions. With the development of green chemistry and the growth of consumers’ interest in nutritional and healthy food, relationship between food chemistry and food processing are of increasing interest for the scientific community.  The special issue entitled ‘Chemistry of Food: from Molecules to Processing’, is focused on the newest trends in food chemistry of processing research area. Research articles and reviews dealing with various fundamental and applied aspects related the chemical changes during food processing and their impacts on the food qualities are encouraged. In terms of dissemination, this Special Issue is aiming to provide some guidelines for good practice and reporting in food processing and food chemistry areas, but are not limited to: 

  • effective preservation of nutritional compounds;  
  • food flavor chemistry during processing;  
  • enrichment and utilization of bioactive compounds;   
  • reaction mechanism of chemicals in food processing.

Prof. Dr. Changhong Liu
Dr. Hui Liu
Guest Editors

Dr. Qiang Zhang
Guest Editor Assistant

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

  • food processing
  • volatile components
  • molecular reaction mechanism
  • nutritional composition
  • harmful substances
  • bioactive compounds

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4903 KiB  
Article
Role of Furfural and 5-Methyl-2-furfural in Glucose-Induced Inhibition of 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) Formation in Chemical Models and Pork Patties
by Yuexia Qin, Zhuyu Zheng, Di Liu, Shuhua Sun, Xiaolei Zhao, Lei Lv, Dengyu Xie, Zhonghui Han and Jinxing He
Molecules 2025, 30(6), 1254; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30061254 - 11 Mar 2025
Viewed by 486
Abstract
The effects of furfural and 5-methyl-2-furfural produced by the Maillard reaction on PhIP formation were investigated in chemical models and roasted pork patties. In the chemical models, the results indicated that increasing levels of furfural (r = −0.7338, R2 = 0.9557) and [...] Read more.
The effects of furfural and 5-methyl-2-furfural produced by the Maillard reaction on PhIP formation were investigated in chemical models and roasted pork patties. In the chemical models, the results indicated that increasing levels of furfural (r = −0.7338, R2 = 0.9557) and 5-methyl-2-furfural (r = −0.7959, R2 = 0.9864) significantly reduced PhIP formation, displaying a strong linear correlation. The effects of furfural and 5-methyl-2-furfural on the precursors of phenylalanine (Phe) and phenylacetaldehyde showed a significant reduction in the Phe level, while the level of phenylacetaldehyde was not increased. In addition, neither furfural nor 5-methyl-2-furfural could significantly reduce creatinine or PhIP. Further mechanism studies showed that furfural (5-methyl-2-furfural) directly captured Phe to form the corresponding Schiff base compounds a (2-((furan-2-ylmethylene) amino)-3-phenylpropanoic acid) and b (2-(((5-methylfuran-2-yl)methylene)amino)-3-phenylpropanoic acid). This process reduced the production of phenylacetaldehyde, thereby inhibiting the PhIP formation pathway. More importantly, these two compounds were detected in roasted pork patties to which glucose was added. The above pathway was finally confirmed in roasted pork patties. These results revealed that furfural and 5-methyl-2-furfural, formed during the Maillard reaction, play a significant role in inhibiting the formation of PhIP by reacting with Phe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemistry of Food: From Molecules to Processing)
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12 pages, 1749 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Changes in Sterol Content of Nuts After Roasting Using Conventional and Microwave Methods and After Storage
by Klaudia Kulik and Bożena Waszkiewicz-Robak
Molecules 2025, 30(3), 606; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30030606 - 30 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 777
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the nut roasting process (conventional and microwave methods) and long-term storage (12 months) on phytosterol content and stability. This study was conducted using hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), common walnuts (Juglans [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to determine the influence of the nut roasting process (conventional and microwave methods) and long-term storage (12 months) on phytosterol content and stability. This study was conducted using hazelnuts (Corylus avellana), common walnuts (Juglans regia L.), and shelled peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.). Two roasting methods were examined: conventional (temp. 170 °C, roasting time 10–20 min.) and microwave (temp. 60 °C, pressure 40 hPa, roasting time 140–180 s). In the studied nuts (raw, roasted and stored), five main types of phytosterols were identified: campesterol, stigmasterol, ß-sitosterol, delta 5-avenasterol and cycloartenol. It was shown that the microwave roasting method caused a two-fold decrease in sterol loss compared with conventional roasting. Moreover, the long-term storage of roasted walnuts using the microwave method showed double the amount of sterols preserved compared with those roasted using the conventional method. The amount of ß-sitosterol, which was the most stable during roasting, depended more on storage duration than on roasting process. The cycloartenol content in the roasted nuts did not depend on storage duration. The sterols present in nuts, raw or roasted using either method, transform more during the first 6 months of storage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemistry of Food: From Molecules to Processing)
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18 pages, 1224 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Analysis of Physicochemical Properties and Volatile Compounds in Different Strawberry Wines under Various Pre-Treatments
by Zhenzhen Lv, Hui Liu, Wenbo Yang, Qiang Zhang, Dalei Chen, Zhonggao Jiao and Jiechao Liu
Molecules 2024, 29(9), 2045; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29092045 - 29 Apr 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1683
Abstract
Pre-fermentation treatment has an important impact on the color, aroma, taste, and other characteristics of fruit wine. To discover suitable pre-treatment techniques and conditions that yield strawberry wine of excellent quality, the influences of juice fermentation, pulp maceration, thermovinification, and enzymatic hydrolysis pre-treatments [...] Read more.
Pre-fermentation treatment has an important impact on the color, aroma, taste, and other characteristics of fruit wine. To discover suitable pre-treatment techniques and conditions that yield strawberry wine of excellent quality, the influences of juice fermentation, pulp maceration, thermovinification, and enzymatic hydrolysis pre-treatments on the basic chemical composition, color, antioxidant capacity, and volatile organic compounds in strawberry wines were investigated. The results showed that the color, antioxidant properties, and volatile aroma of strawberry wines fermented with juice were different from those with pulp. Strawberry wines fermented from juice after 50 °C maceration had more desirable qualities, such as less methanol content (72.43 ± 2.14 mg/L) compared with pulp-fermented wines (88.16 ± 7.52 mg/L) and enzymatic maceration wines (136.72 ± 11.5 mg/L); higher total phenolic content (21.78%) and total flavonoid content (13.02%); enhanced DPPH (17.36%) and ABTS (27.55%) free radical scavenging activities; richer essential terpenoids and fatty acid ethyl esters, such as linalool (11.28%), ethyl hexanoate (14.41%), ethyl octanoate (17.12%), ethyl decanoate (32.49%), and ethyl 9-decenoate (60.64%); pleasant floral and fruity notes compared with juice-fermented wines macerated at normal temperatures; and a lighter color. Overall, juice thermovinification at 50 °C is a potential pre-treatment technique to enhance the nutrition and aroma of strawberry wine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemistry of Food: From Molecules to Processing)
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