Berries and Health: Bioactive Compounds in Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant-based food design and optimization; extraction emerging technologies for phenolic compounds; berry-derived functional foods and nutraceuticals; fiber-rich powdered ingredients; freeze-, spray-, and fluidized-bed-dried nutraceuticals; valorization of wild berries and fruit-processing by-products for functional food development
Interests: valorization of fruit by-products; extraction technologies; polyphenols and dietary fiber from berries; pectin extraction; functional foods and ingredients; drying processes
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Berries are rich sources of bioactive compounds, such as polyphenols, anthocyanins, and dietary fiber, with recognized antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and gut-modulating properties. However, a gap persists between the development of specific functional foods and the evidence supporting their nutritional potential.
This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in the following areas:
- Development of innovative berry-based functional foods (e.g., fortified snacks, beverages, baked goods, dairy products, and nutraceuticals).
- Validation of health-related functionalities, for instance antioxidant activity, enzyme inhibition (e.g., α-glucosidase, pancreatic lipase), antiplatelet activity, microbiota modulation, or anti-inflammatory effects in relevant models, among others.
- Technological and methodological approaches such as encapsulation, novel processing technologies, and in vitro gastrointestinal digestion models.
- Development of functional foods and nutraceuticals from by-products derived from berry processing.
We encourage original research that report the design of specific berry-based functional foods or nutraceuticals together with the demonstration (at least through in vitro techniques) of specific bioactivities. Manuscripts solely evaluating the functional potential of liquid extracts derived from berries or berry by-products will not be considered for acceptance.
Dr. Daniela Salvatori
Dr. Paula Andrea Sette
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. 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
- berries
- berry by-products
- functional foods
- nutraceuticals
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