Dear Colleagues,

Foods containing lipids can easily undergo oxidative degradation (autoxidation), leading to negative sensory traits (rancid flavour), loss of colour and aroma, and the production of toxic compounds. For this reason, antioxidants are used to extend the shelf life of foods and improve their quality. The evidence that synthetic antioxidants, although efficacious, are biased by toxicity has stimulated research to obtain new antioxidant formulations based on natural and safer molecules such as tocopherols, phenolic compounds and carotenoids.

Oxidation can also take place in the human body: when the production of reactive oxygen (ROS) and nitrogen (RNS) species is not balanced by relative detoxification strategies, we may face oxidative stress, which is acknowledged to play a key role in the onset of non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD), metabolic syndrome, type-2 diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative pathologies. The awareness that food might promote well-being and counteract oxidative stress has pushed scientists, technologists and companies to develop functional foods and nutraceuticals enriched with antioxidant compounds.

To satisfy this increasing need for natural antioxidants, it is possible to take advantage of the enormous stream of by-products from food agri-food supply chains that often contain considerable amounts of value-added molecules endowed with antioxidant capacity. Thus, the identification of alternative antioxidant sources from food by-products and more sustainable biomasses like microalgae and the development of innovative extraction processes, possibly based on green solvents, have been the objectives of many researchers. Due to the intrinsic fragility of antioxidant molecules, the extraction process is frequently followed by a stabilization phase, e.g., encapsulation, aiming to extend the efficacy of these compounds and improve functional properties such as their ease of manipulation and bioavailability. The latter represents a crucial point when it comes to the development of innovative nutraceutical formulations.

This Special Issue aims to further underline current developments in all fields dealing with the extraction, characterization and encapsulation of antioxidant compounds from alternative and more sustainable sources and evaluate their antioxidant capacity.

Dr. Gianni Zoccatelli
Dr. Maria Bellumori
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. Antioxidants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• valorization of agri-food wastes/by-products
• alternative sources of antioxidants
• innovative and green extraction processes
• natural antioxidants
• encapsulation
• biological activity
• antioxidant activity
• shelf-life studies
• functional foods and ingredients
• nutraceuticals