Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the role of gut health in overall well-being, leading to a surge in the consumption of probiotic products. Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer health benefits on the host. However, the effectiveness of probiotics is highly dependent on their functionality and stability within the food system.

Functionality refers to the ability of probiotics to exert their beneficial effects, such as improving digestion, enhancing immune function, and reducing the risk of certain diseases. To ensure functionality, it is crucial to select probiotic strains with documented health benefits and incorporate them into food products in sufficient quantities. Moreover, the survival of probiotics during processing, storage, and gastrointestinal transit is essential for their functionality. Probiotics are susceptible to environmental stressors such as temperature, pH, and oxygen exposure, which can significantly reduce their viability and, thus, their health benefits.

Postbiotics are the metabolic byproducts generated by probiotics during their growth. These include organic acids, antimicrobial peptides, and enzymes, which contribute to gut health and overall well-being. The stability of postbiotics in the food system is essential to preserve their beneficial properties. Processing techniques and storage conditions must be optimized to retain the bioactivity of postbiotics, ensuring their functionality in food products.

Parabiotics, conversely, are non-viable probiotics or their cellular components that exert health benefits. These include cell surface proteins, cell wall fragments, and extracellular polysaccharides. The functionality and stability of parabiotics depend on their ability to survive processing and storage conditions without compromising their bioactivity.

Overall, ensuring the functionality and stability of probiotics, postbiotics, and parabiotics in the food system is crucial for developing innovative and reliable functional food products. Advances in techniques and technologies are needed to optimize their viability, bioactivity, and delivery methods, ultimately enhancing the potential health benefits they can provide.

Dr. Lianliang Liu
Prof. Dr. Hui Cao
Dr. Lingyi Liu
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. 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.

• prebiotics
• probiotics
• postbiotics
• parabiotics
• gut microbiota