From Agri-Food By-Products to Bioactive Ingredients: Sustainable Innovations for Functional Foods and Food Safety
A Special Issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) belonging to the section "Sustainable Food".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2027 | Viewed by 151
Editors
Interests: nutraceuticals and functional foods; gut microbiota modulation; bioactive molecules; food safety; valorisation of agri-food by-products into value-creating products with zero waste
Interests: immunonutrition; by-products; bioactive compounds; intestinal inflammation; signalling pathways; piglets
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: natural products; food biotechnology; gastrointestinal simulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global agri-food sector generates substantial quantities of by-products and waste streams throughout its production, processing, and distribution chains, creating significant environmental, economic, and sustainability challenges. In recent years, growing scientific evidence has demonstrated that many agri-food by-products represent valuable bioactive compound sources, including polyphenols, dietary fibres, proteins, peptides, lipids, vitamins, and other phytochemicals with potential applications in food and nutraceutical industries. Consequently, the transition from a linear economy toward sustainable and circular bioeconomy models has become a major research priority worldwide.
The existing literature has extensively documented the chemical composition and biological activities of numerous agri-food by-products; however, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding the scalability of recovery technologies, the integration of valorisation processes into industrial production systems, and the safety assessment of novel food ingredients obtained from secondary biomass streams. Also, integrating these agro-industry by-products in animal nutrition, as an alternative to in-feed antibiotics and to improve animal immunity, intestinal health and the quality of animal products, is considered an ingenious strategy for agri-food valorisation. By collating original research articles, reviews, and case studies, this Special Issue intends to bridge these gaps and promote interdisciplinary approaches that connect food science, biotechnology, sustainability, and food safety. The collected contributions are expected to advance current knowledge on resource-efficient utilisation of agri-food residues, support the development of high-value products, and foster sustainable innovations while addressing critical aspects related to food quality, safety, traceability, and consumer acceptance. Ultimately, this Special Issue will contribute to strengthening the scientific foundation required to implement circular economy principles within modern food systems.
Dr. Laura Dorina Dinu
Dr. Gina Pistol
Prof. Dr. Emanuel Vamanu
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability 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 2400 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
- agri-food by-products
- bioactive compounds
- circular bioeconomy
- functional foods
- animal health
- high-quality animal products
- food safety
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