Special Issue "Innovative Food Science and Sustainable Process Management"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Malgorzata Nowacka
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering and Process Management, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159c, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: non-thermal technologies such as ultrasound and pulsed electric field; osmotic dehydration; drying; design new products; sustainable methods of food production
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Urszula Tylewicz
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Cesena, 47521, Italy
Interests: non-thermal technologies for fruit and vegetable processing (pulsed electric field, ultrasound, vacuum impregnation, osmotic dehydration, high pressure homogenization); waste and byproduct valorization; sustainable food production
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Artur Wiktor
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Engineering and Process Management; Institute of Food Science, Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: non-thermal processing methods; pulsed electric field; drying; food; ultrasound
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Dr. Patricio R. Santagapita
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires. Centro de investigación en hidratos de carbono (CIHIDECAR) and Organic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1053 CABA, Argentina
Interests: green based-extraction methods; waste and byproduct valorization; drying; encapsulation; biopolymers; bioactive compounds

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Presently, consumers are looking for safe food products with high quality and nutritional value. However, their behavior on the market is more and more influenced by aspects related to environmental protection and sustainable development. Thus, the aim of this Special Issue of Sustainability is to present current research and relevant state-of-the-art reviews focused on the sustainable methods of food production and management linked with traditional and innovative unit operations.

Sustainable food production is associated with processes that avoid environmental degradation, do not use a high amount of energy, and are safe. To ensure sustainable development of food technology, existing processing methods are altered or completely new and innovative technologies are introduced. Among different examples, the importance of the following is of the essence: pulsed electric fields (PEF), ultrasounds (US), high-pressure processing (HPP) and homogenization (HPH), microwaves (MV), pulsed light (PL) or cold plasma (CP). Moreover, some traditional technologies can be applied and optimized in order to be more sustainable. What is more, novel technologies or optimized traditional methods allow obtaining high-quality products with minimal degradation of nutrients, preserving at the same time their thermolabile compounds, flavor, taste, texture, and overall quality. Finally, the valorization of byproducts can lead to ingredients (proteins, biopolymers, antioxidants, among others) which can modify both the functional and technological properties of foods, conjoining sustainability with value addition. In this area also the packaging issue is very important to assure the high quality of food during storage and to reduce food loss.

Therefore, we would like to invite authors to contribute with original research articles as well as review articles regarding contemporary issues and future trends in sustainable food production.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Malgorzata Nowacka
Dr. Urszula Tylewicz
Dr. Artur Wiktor
Dr. Patricio R. Santagapita
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 papers will be 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. 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 1900 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

  • Nonthermal technologies
  • Traditional and innovative processes in food
  • Sustainable methods of food production
  • Emerging technologies
  • Valorization of byproducts
  • packaging

Published Papers (3 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

Article
Ultrasound-Assisted Vacuum Impregnation as a Strategy for the Management of Potato By-Products
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3437; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063437 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 439
Abstract
One of the most important problems of the modern world is food wastage. The issue occurs at every stage of the food chain, requiring new sustainable production and processing technologies. The processing of production waste and making it a wholesome ingredient may be [...] Read more.
One of the most important problems of the modern world is food wastage. The issue occurs at every stage of the food chain, requiring new sustainable production and processing technologies. The processing of production waste and making it a wholesome ingredient may be a good opportunity to promote more sustainable development. This study analyzes the process of enrichment of model by-product (irregular potatoes cubes) with a functional compound (ascorbic acid) through vacuum impregnation, with two experiments on variants of the process, standard (VI) and ultrasonic-assisted (UVI). The research covers complete processing, including the stage of preserving impregnated products by convective drying. The analysis includes the impregnation efficiency, drying kinetics, and energy consumption, and selected quality parameters of the material, namely color and water activity. Based on the results, ultrasound increased the impregnation efficiency, but the quantitative effect depends on the application period. Ultrasound had a positive effect on the kinetics and energy consumption of convective drying. Ultrasound did not reduce quality. The proposed technology may be useful during the processing of by-products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Food Science and Sustainable Process Management)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Energy and Quality Aspects of Freeze-Drying Preceded by Traditional and Novel Pre-Treatment Methods as Exemplified by Red Bell Pepper
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 2035; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042035 - 13 Feb 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 722
Abstract
Freeze-drying is one of the most expensive and most energy intensive processes applied in food technology. Therefore, there have been significant efforts to reduce the freeze-drying time and decrease its energy consumption. The aim of this work was to analyze the effect of [...] Read more.
Freeze-drying is one of the most expensive and most energy intensive processes applied in food technology. Therefore, there have been significant efforts to reduce the freeze-drying time and decrease its energy consumption. The aim of this work was to analyze the effect of pulsed electric field (PEF), ultrasound (US), and hybrid treatment (PEF-US) and compare them with the effect of blanching (BL) on the freeze-drying kinetics, energy consumption, greenhouse gasses emission, and physical quality of the product. The freeze-drying process was applied to red bell peppers after pretreatment operations. Results showed that application of BL, PEF, US, or PEF-US reduces freeze-drying time and decreases energy consumption. Among the tested methods, the combination of PEF performed at 1 kJ/kg and US was the most effective in reduction of greenhouse gas emission. BL samples exhibited the highest porosity, but from a statistical point of view, most of the PEF-US treated materials did not differ from it. The smallest color changes were noted for US pre-treated bell peppers (ΔE = 9.4), whereas BL, PEF, and PEF-US material was characterized by ΔE of 15.2–28.5. Performed research indicates the application of pre-treatment may improve the sustainability of freeze-drying process and quality of freeze-dried bell pepper. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Food Science and Sustainable Process Management)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

Review
Sustainable Development in the Agri-Food Sector in Terms of the Carbon Footprint: A Review
Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6463; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166463 - 11 Aug 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1424
Abstract
The concept of sustainable development is increasingly important in the agri-food sector and global economy. International activities are undertaken to improve the efficiency of industry by reducing its negative impact on the environment. To help determine harmful human activity, the environmental footprints of [...] Read more.
The concept of sustainable development is increasingly important in the agri-food sector and global economy. International activities are undertaken to improve the efficiency of industry by reducing its negative impact on the environment. To help determine harmful human activity, the environmental footprints of products and services are calculated using the LCA (life cycle assessment) method. The purpose of this article was to explain topics of sustainable development and environmental footprints, especially the carbon footprint in the agri-food sector, based on the latest literature. The agri-food industry consumes around 30% of global energy demand. It is also a source of emissions of a significant part of greenhouse gases released into the environment. The carbon footprint of food products is determined by many factors associated with their production. Food of animal origin is more harmful and has higher carbon footprints than plant-based products. GHG emission reduction is possible due to the use of renewable energy sources and the abandonment of the use of artificial fertilizers and plant protection products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Food Science and Sustainable Process Management)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop