Phytochemical Alterations Induced by Food Processing and Food Supplement Processing
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 February 2025
Special Issue Editors
2. Technology Development Zone, Depark Technopark, Spil Innova R&D, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
Interests: food chemistry; food bioactives; plant bioactives; food processing
Interests: bioactive natural products; polyphenols; vine and wine; NMR; authenticity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Existing food processing techniques usually result in chemical modifications of foods and nutraceutical food supplements. Maillard reactions, hydrolysis, hydrogenation, oxidation, enzymatic reactions, metabolic-induced reactions, and depolymerization may occur during food processing. These reactions can improve or degrade several products' nutritional and sensory characteristics, and phytochemical substances can be effected. Various reactions induced by food processing are responsible for the formation of harmful compounds or toxins that affect food safety, which should be avoided, and some modifications can be generated in phytochemicals. Moreover, innovative food processing, via high hydrostatic pressure and ultrasound, can affect bioactive phytochemicals in foods and food supplements. To improve food products and food supplements or avoid excessive degradation, it is very important to understand how these reactions occur, their pathways, and their consequences on food’s nutritional and sensory characteristics.
The advanced analysis of food using HPLC-MS, GC-MS, NMR, FTIR, and other chromatographic and spectrophotometric techniques can help to better understand the phytochemical alterations caused by food processing. The abovementioned techniques facilitate an increase in sensitivity and specificity to determine compounds, reduce sample sizes, increase analysis productivity in some cases, and improve the accuracy and precision of results. Studies lead to a more comprehensive understanding of food products' quality, safety, and nutritional value. The main challenge in improving food products and food supplements containing phytochemicals is understanding the mechanisms involved in forming bioactive compounds and the mechanisms of food compound degradation. To achieve this goal, research with a greater focus on the chemical and phytochemical alterations caused by thermal and non-thermal technologies should be addressed.
Understanding food chemical and phytochemical transformations eases the challenges faced in quality and sensory control. Making improvements in nutritional value and modulating aromas and flavors are major challenges due to the lack of knowledge of the reaction pathways and how to use them to improve food products. The impact of the food matrix and interactions between food processing strategies on the bioaccessibility of dietary phytochemicals is also significant.
The aim of this Special Issue is to investigate advanced analytical tools to characterize and measure the phytochemical alterations that occur during any stage of existing food processing and innovative food processing technologies.
We especially welcome manuscripts in the form of review articles pertaining to this theme.
Prof. Dr. Özlem Tokuşoĝlu
Prof. Dr. Tristan Richard
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 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. Molecules 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 2700 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
- phytochemicals
- phytochemical alterations
- food bioactives
- plant bioactives
- reaction mechanisms
- food supplements
- food supplement processing
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.
