**Preface to "Functionality and Food Applications of Plant Proteins"**

The demand for plant proteins continues to increase due to the growing global population, rising protein deficiency, and their versatile environmental, functional, nutritional, and health benefits. Plant proteins represent a more sustainable source to (partially) supplement costly animal-based foods, such as meat, egg, and dairy products. Protein functional properties, including solubility, emulsification, foaming, water retention, fat binding, viscosity, rheology, thickening, and gelling, are closely associated with protein behavior and application suitability in food items.

Many factors can influence protein functionality and application, such as protein sources, production methods, molecular structures, chemical properties, food formulations and environment, and food processing techniques. Physical, chemical, and biochemical methods have been investigated to further enhance protein functionality. The potential applications of plant proteins are diverse and include alternatives to meat, egg, and dairy products and ingredients, extenders in meat, poultry, and seafood, ingredients in bakery products, cereals, and snacks, beverages, confectionaries, and bioactive peptides, among others.

We have compiled 15 papers from the Special Issue of *Foods* entitled "Functionality and Food Applications of Plant Proteins". These papers focus on the characterization, chemistry, interaction, processing, modification, functionality, and/or application of various plant proteins in relation to human food. This book is a reprint of that Special Issue, aiming to make the valuable insights and research presented in those papers more widely accessible to interested readers.

> **Yonghui Li** *Editor*
