The Functional Properties and Health Benefits of Carbohydrates
A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Carbohydrates".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2026 | Viewed by 200
Special Issue Editors
Interests: nano colloids; microbiology; precision nutrition; biochemistry; metabolic disorders; gut-brain axis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We invite researchers and experts to contribute to this Special Issue titled “The Functional Properties and Health Benefits of Carbohydrates.” This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in precision nutrition, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time monitoring to tailor carbohydrate intake and management to individual biological characteristics, while also addressing emerging, next-generation research on carbohydrates that supports global sustainable development goals.
Beyond their nutritional value and contributions to immune function, carbohydrates play critical roles in digestion, modulation of the gut microbiome, and host metabolic regulation. Accordingly, this Special Issue focuses on research that links the functional and structural properties of carbohydrates to nutritional performance, digestive behavior, bioaccessibility, and health-related outcomes in human nutrition contexts.
We welcome high-quality original research and review articles addressing strategies to enhance the nutritional and health-relevant functionalities of carbohydrates, including nutraceutical applications and delivery systems such as nano- and micro-structured formulations. In particular, we encourage studies involving physicochemical characterization, antimicrobial activity, and in vitro gastrointestinal fate, elucidating their implications for gut health, digestive disorders, healthy aging, glycemic response, nutrient release, or gut–brain axis interactions.
We seek contributions applying AI-driven and machine learning approaches to dietary estimation, prediction, and personalized carbohydrate management, as well as studies examining the role of carbohydrates in major chronic disorders from a nutritional or health-oriented perspective.
Finally, this Special Issue welcomes research on sustainable carbohydrate-based strategies for the development of safe, functional foods that support human health. We invite researchers to contribute work that advances understandings of how carbohydrate structure and function translate into meaningful nutritional and health benefits.
Dr. Taskeen Niaz
Prof. Dr. Alan Mackie
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Nutrients 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.
Keywords
- nanocarriers
- food fortifications
- nutraceuticals
- food packaging
- gut health
- microbiome
- digestibility
- nutrient release
- polymer characterization
- sustainable polysaccharides
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