Dietary Bioactives and Gut Microbiota: Global Advances in Nutrition, Functionality and Personalized Health
A Special Issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643) belonging to the section "Prebiotics, Probiotics and Postbiotics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2026 | Viewed by 2016
Editor
Interests: gut microbiota; dietary polysaccharides; microbial polysaccharides; probiotics; functional foods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Recent research highlights that food components do more than just provide nutrients—they also influence the gut microbiota, which plays a vital role in human health. The interaction between dietary bioactive compounds and gut microbes has become a hot topic in nutrition, food science, and medicine. Bioactive compounds such as dietary polysaccharides, polyphenols, and prebiotics can shape the composition and activity of the gut microbiota through multiple mechanisms. Microbial polysaccharides (e.g., exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria or β-glucans from yeast) can directly regulate the immune system or serve as prebiotics to support a healthy gut environment. These interactions affect energy metabolism, immune responses, and even brain signaling. This “food–microbiota–host” relationship offers a new perspective for understanding the health benefits of traditional diets and guiding personalized nutrition.
This Special Issue highlights three key areas of research: (1) the mechanisms by which dietary bioactive compounds influence microbial metabolism and subsequently regulate host energy balance, immune function, and gut–brain signaling; (2) the development of personalized nutrition approaches through identifying gut microbiota markers that predict individual responses to specific dietary components; and (3) the health-promoting effects of traditional regional diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, mediated through their modulation of the gut microbiome.
This issue aims to promote interdisciplinary collaboration across food science, microbiome research, clinical nutrition, and omics technologies. The findings will provide valuable insights for preventing metabolic diseases, supporting immune health, and improving neurological outcomes.
Prof. Dr. Wei Li
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients 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 2900 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
- dietary bioactive compounds
- gut microbiota
- functional foods
- precision nutrition
- microbial metabolites
- dietary polysaccharides
- microbial polysaccharides
- personalized diet
- fermented foods
- gut–brain axis
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
