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Nutritional Properties, Sensory Profile and Bioactive Components of Food, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 1319

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of NEUROFARBA, University of Florence, Via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Interests: natural antioxidants; nutraceutical sciences; food chemistry; nutrition and human health; phenolic compounds; extraction and characterization of bioactive molecules
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of NEUROFARBA, University degli Studi di Firenze, Via Ugo Schiff 6, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Florence, Italy
Interests: phenolic compounds; volatile compounds; fortification of food with nutraceutical compounds; food technology; food quality authentication; food byproduct re-use
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over recent decades, there has been an increased focus on describing the composition and nutritional value of foods, also supported by the study of their sensory profiles. There is indeed an increasing demand by consumers for foods that go beyond nutritional needs to promote well-being, reduce disease and increase lifespan.

Epidemiological studies have shown a correlation between the increased consumption of some specific foods and the reduced risks of chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and age-related functional decline. These health-beneficial effects are thought to be related to macronutrients, micronutrients and bioactive compounds. The potential health benefits linked to the numerous phytochemicals present in different food sources, which appear to be responsible for preventing many diseases and infections, are well known.

Furthermore, the sensory properties of food such as color, appearance and flavor (the last being given by smell, taste and texture) are extremely important not only to consumers, but also to producers, because they directly relate to product quality and end-user acceptance. The increasing demand for more attractive, tasty and healthy food can lead to the development of value-added products in the food sector. Nowadays, it is important to widen the knowledge about food quality, phytochemical composition and marketability to meet the demand of consumers, producers and retailers.

This Special Issue aims to further underline current developments in all fields that are connected to the bioactive constituents of food, as well as their nutritional and sensory characteristics.

Dr. Maria Bellumori
Dr. Lorenzo Cecchi
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

  • food analysis
  • bioactive compounds
  • sensory characteristics
  • food composition
  • functional food ingredients
  • all connected topics

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 3871 KiB  
Communication
Comparison of Flavonoid Content, Antioxidant Potential, Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition Activity and Volatile Components Based on HS-SPME-GC-MS of Different Parts from Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro
by Xin Wang, Jiatao Guo, Siqi Zang, Baodong Liu and Yuhuan Wu
Molecules 2024, 29(5), 1142; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29051142 - 04 Mar 2024
Viewed by 551
Abstract
Matteuccia struthiopteris is one of the most globally consumed edible ferns and widely used in folk medicine. Reports mainly focus on young fronds and the rhizome which are common edible medicinal parts. However, there are few detailed reports on other parts. Therefore, the [...] Read more.
Matteuccia struthiopteris is one of the most globally consumed edible ferns and widely used in folk medicine. Reports mainly focus on young fronds and the rhizome which are common edible medicinal parts. However, there are few detailed reports on other parts. Therefore, the volatile components of different parts based on HS-SPME-GC-MS were identified, and total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities were compared in order to reveal the difference of volatile components and potential medicinal value of different parts. The results showed that total flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and volatile components of different parts were obviously different. The crozier exhibited the strongest antioxidant activities, but only underground parts exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition potential against AChE. Common volatile compounds were furfural and 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-methyl-. In addition, it was found that some volatile components from adventitious root, trophophyll, sporophyll and petiole were important ingredients in food, cosmetics, industrial manufacturing and pharmaceutical applications. Full article
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16 pages, 1049 KiB  
Article
Can a Fraction of Flour and Sugar Be Replaced with Fruit By-Product Extracts in a Gluten-Free and Vegan Cookie Recipe?
by Carlotta Breschi, Silvia D’Agostino, Francesco Meneguzzo, Federica Zabini, Jasmine Chini, Luca Lovatti, Luca Tagliavento, Lorenzo Guerrini, Maria Bellumori, Lorenzo Cecchi and Bruno Zanoni
Molecules 2024, 29(5), 1102; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29051102 - 29 Feb 2024
Viewed by 589
Abstract
Certain food by-products, including not-good-for-sale apples and pomegranate peels, are rich in bioactive molecules that can be collected and reused in food formulations. Their extracts, rich in pectin and antioxidant compounds, were obtained using hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), a green, efficient, and scalable extraction [...] Read more.
Certain food by-products, including not-good-for-sale apples and pomegranate peels, are rich in bioactive molecules that can be collected and reused in food formulations. Their extracts, rich in pectin and antioxidant compounds, were obtained using hydrodynamic cavitation (HC), a green, efficient, and scalable extraction technique. The extracts were chemically and physically characterized and used in gluten-free and vegan cookie formulations to replace part of the flour and sugar to study whether they can mimic the role of these ingredients. The amount of flour + sugar removed and replaced with extracts was 5% and 10% of the total. Physical (dimensions, color, hardness, moisture content, water activity), chemical (total phenolic content, DPPH radical-scavenging activity), and sensory characteristics of cookie samples were studied. Cookies supplemented with the apple extract were endowed with similar or better characteristics compared to control cookies: high spread ratio, similar color, and similar sensory characteristics. In contrast, the pomegranate peel extract enriched the cookies in antioxidant molecules but significantly changed their physical and sensory characteristics: high hardness value, different color, and a bitter and astringent taste. HC emerged as a feasible technique to enable the biofortification of consumer products at a real scale with extracts from agri-food by-products. Full article
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