Protein-Based Delivery Systems: Properties, Applications, and Potential Risks for Foods

Dear Colleagues,

A protein-based delivery system is a novel system that utilizes the structural and functional properties of proteins to realize the transport and delivery of bioactive substances to the target sites. This kind of delivery system has a wide prospect in food, nutrition and medical applications. It can be used to carry some bioactive molecules with biological activities, such as minerals, peptides, vitamins, flavonoids, polyphenols, etc., to realize functional food preparation, nutritional supplements, stability and bioavailability improvements, food detection, target transporting, etc. Carrying these molecules through a protein-based delivery system can effectively protect their activity and stability so as to improve the nutritional value and meet people's requirements for healthy foods. In addition, the applications of protein-based delivery systems may also have a certain potential risk. For example, it may have adverse effects on the target cells, or even cause toxic side effects. Therefore, the potential risks need to be fully evaluated. This Special Issue provides a good opportunity for colleagues in the fields of food processing, food chemistry, food biochemistry, nutrition and materials science to provide high-quality manuscripts related, but not limited to, the following topics. 

1. The role of a protein-based delivery system in food applications, including food processing, nutrition, detection, taste and shelf life, etc.;
2. The present situation and challenges of a protein-based delivery system in food applications;
3. The development trend and future prospect of protein-based delivery systems;
4. The impact of protein-based delivery systems on food safety, including microbial contamination and anaphylactic reaction, etc.;
5. The role of protein-based delivery systems in food quality, including the effects on the structure, composition, stability and activity of bioactive components;
6. The combination of protein-based delivery systems with other food technologies, such as packaging technology, food additives and cold chain transportation, etc.;
7. The interaction between protein and bioactive components;
8. New source, type and characteristics of protein in the delivery system;
9. Potential risk assessment of protein-based delivery systems;
10. Protein-based delivery systems used in food novel applications;
11. Technical optimization of protein-based delivery systems.

Dr. Rui Yang
Dr. Lingli Chen
Guest Editors

Dr. Chunkai Gu
Guest Editor Assistant

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. Foods 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 2900 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.

• protein-based delivery system
• bioactive molecules
• activity
• stability
• nutrition
• interaction
• potential risks