Plant Foods: Characterization, Extraction, Processing, and Waste Revalorization
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1532
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant food; vegetable tissues; bioactive compounds; drying and extraction process; agroindustry waste; circular economy; biomaterials; microscopy; histology and Image analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food science; agricultural plant science; encapsulation; bioactive compounds of agave waste; microscopy; histology and digital image analysis
Interests: food science; revaluation of agave waste; fermentation; probiotics; prebiotics; encapsulation; biomaterials
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant food research encompasses a depth knowledge with respect to their physical, chemical, macro-/micro-, and nanometric characterization using high-resolution analytical techniques, microscopy, and image analysis; the characterization and/or extraction of the nutritional and functional compounds from plant foods, processes to which both the raw material and its constituents are subjected, and the methods used for this extraction, from traditional methods to emerging technologies; and the revalorization of plant food waste through the development or proposal of by-products that offer added value to production chains.
- Plant food characterization
Characterization is the analytical process of identifying and quantifying the chemical, physical, nutritional, functional, and sensory properties of plant materials. The mechanical properties of plant foods are characterized using equipment such as the Universal Mechanical Testing Machine, the indentation tester, and structural high-resolution equipment such as microscopy techniques and image analysis. These processes are vital to understanding a plant's potential applications and to developing optimized processing methods.
- Extraction methods
Extraction involves separating and recovering valuable components, such as proteins, lipids, bioactive compounds, metabolites, and others, from the plant matrix. Both conventional techniques and emerging technologies are used.
- Process and technologies
The processes and technologies to which plants are subjected range from the study of physiological, chemical, and biochemical processes to the processes to which plants are subjected under conservation efforts, or technologies that transform the components of a raw plant into a final product or processed food.
- Waste or residue revalorization
Revalorization turns agricultural and food processing by-products into higher-value products, contributing to a circular economy and minimizing environmental impact.
This multi-stage approach (circular economy and life cycle analysis) is key to creating both new food products and higher-value ingredients from agricultural by-products.
Dr. Maria de Jesus Perea-Flores
Dr. Brenda Hildeliza Camacho Díaz
Dr. Sandra Victoria Ávila-Reyes
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 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants 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
- plants
- agroindustrial waste or residues
- process
- characterization
- metabolites
- biopolymers
- extraction
- chemical composition
- ancestral plants
- circular economy
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