Sustainable Processing Technologies: Impact on Food Bioactivity, Safety and Quality

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable processing technologies are emerging as a promising way to enhance the bioactivity, safety and quality of food products, while reducing the environmental impact of the food industry.

Green technologies (such as ozone, pulsed electric fields, ohmic heating, photosensitization, ultraviolet radiations, high‐pressure processing, cold atmospheric plasma, microwave- and ultrasonic-assisted processing, and nanotechnology) offer advantages over conventional methods in terms of speed, efficiency, effectiveness and environmental impact. These technologies can also offer benefits such as energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, extended shelf life, improved nutritional value and enhanced functional properties of food ingredients. Today, food sector also faces the challenge of meeting the growing food demand and ensuring adequate nutrition for everyone without depleting Earth’s resources or exceeding planetary boundaries. Therefore, green technologies need to be integrated with other strategies to achieve food security and sustainability while preserving or enhancing the bioactivity, safety and quality of food products.

Integration strategies for green technologies and conventional technics for food product processing are methods and practices that aim to combine the benefits of both approaches to achieve environmental, economic and social sustainability in the food industry. Some examples of integration strategies are as follows:

• Hybrid separation processes: using a combination of green technologies such as supercritical-CO₂ fluid extraction and conventional technologies such as distillation or evaporation to improve the efficiency and quality of food product separation.
• Enzyme-enhanced conventional processing: using enzymes to assist or replace conventional processing steps such as heating, mixing or homogenization to reduce energy consumption and improve food product functionality.
• Combined microbial control technologies: using a combination of emerging technologies such as high pressure or pulsed electric fields and conventional technologies such as thermal or chemical treatments to achieve optimal microbial inactivation and food product safety.
• Green packaging technologies: using biodegradable, recyclable or edible materials to replace or reduce the use of conventional plastic or metal packaging materials to minimize waste generation and environmental impact.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the latest research and innovations in the field of green technologies applied to the food industry, covering topics such as those provided below:

• Emerging technologies for microbial control;
• Hybrid separation processes;
• Circular economy;
• Novel processing methods;
• Revalorization;
• Sustainable bioingredients;
• Food safety;
• Quality attributes and consumer acceptance.

Dr. Nassim Naderi
Dr. Luis Felipe Gutierrez Alvarez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• natural food extracts
• food bioactivity
• sustainable production
• quality attributes
• sustainability
• food waste
• bioactive compounds
• functional foods
• bioactive health ingredients
• circular economy