Integrated Plant Nutrition and Food Quality: Production, Postharvest, and Processing
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Nutrition".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 7
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bioprocesses; bioproducts research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: food science and technology; biotechnology; enzymes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue explores how plant nutrition (from soil and substrate management to targeted fertilization and biostimulants) shapes food quality across the entire value chain. We welcome studies that link pre-harvest factors (genotype × environment × management), post-harvest handling (storage, atmosphere, ripening control), and processing/food transformation (thermal and non-thermal) to nutritional, phytochemical, sensory, and safety outcomes. Submissions may address macro- and micronutrients, biofortification, rhizosphere microbiomes, controlled-environment systems, and sustainable nutrient management. We particularly encourage research that connects plant physiological and biochemical mechanisms to measurable food quality attributes, including nutrient density, bioaccessibility/bioavailability, flavor and color, anti-nutritional factors, and contaminants. Both fundamental and applied studies are welcome. Research topics may include (not are not limited to) the following:
- Genotype × environment × management effects on quality, nutrient partitioning, and remobilization.
- Macro/micronutrients, biofortification, and phytochemical enrichment (e.g., carotenoids, polyphenols).
- Bio stimulants and plant–microbiome–nutrient interactions (rhizosphere, endophytes).
- Soil/substrate health, fertigation, controlled release, and precision nutrition; CEA/soilless systems.
- Postharvest handling: maturity indices, cold chain, controlled/modified atmospheres, and ethylene management.
- Processing/food transformation: milling, fermentation/germination/sprouting, extrusion, pulsed/non-thermal technologies, and the retention or conversion of nutrients and phytochemicals.
- Bioaccessibility and bioavailability (in vitro digestion models, simulated gastrointestinal systems).
- Anti-nutritional factors, allergens, and contaminant dynamics as influenced by plant nutrition and processing.
- Sensors, digital phenotyping, metabolomics, transcriptomics, ionomics, and imaging for quality assessment.
- Sustainability metrics linked to nutrient strategies (e.g., reducing losses while preserving quality).
- Development of analytical methods to ensure the quality of plant-based products.
- Design of nutrient recovery and recycling strategies.
Prof. Dr. Mónica L. Chávez-González
Prof. Dr. Pedro Aguilar-Zarate
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
- plant nutrition
- food quality
- biofortification
- phytochemicals
- rhizosphere microbiome
- biostimulants
- postharvest
- controlled-environment agriculture
- precision fertilization
- bioaccessibility
- non-thermal processing
- sensory quality
- nutrient density
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