Special Issue

Agri-food By-products as Sustainable Sources of Bioactive and Functional Food Ingredients

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2026 (Open) Submit Now

Guest Editor

Jose Pinela, PhD

1. Assistant Researcher, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research, I.P. (INIAV, I.P.), Rua dos Lágidos, Lugar da Madalena, 4485-655 Vairão – Vila do Conde, Portugal

2. CIMO, LA SusTEC, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Campus de Santa Apolónia, 5300-253 Bragança, Portugal

Website | E-Mail

Research Interests: Food chemistry; food processing; food safety; bioactive compounds; by-products valorization; process optimization; antioxidants; nutrients; phytochemicals; food contaminants; vertical farming; microgreens

About This Topic

The agri-food industry generates massive amounts of plant and animal by-products. Often regarded as waste, these materials are now recognized as rich sources of valuable compounds, including polyphenols, dietary fibers, peptides, oils, and antioxidants. Through innovative biorefinery approaches, these by-products can be transformed into high-value ingredients for food, feed, nutraceuticals, and biodegradable materials, supporting a circular bioeconomy.

This Special Issue invites high-quality research and review articles on innovative and sustainable strategies for upcycling agri-food by-products into valuable goods. We welcome studies that emphasize both technological development and the assessment of the functionality and safety of bio-based ingredients, ensuring their suitability for commercial applications.

Key topics include:

• - Green and emerging extraction technologies.
• - Bioactive compound characterization and their health-promoting effects.
• - Applications in food systems, ensuring nutritional integrity and sensory quality.
• - Food safety assessment and development of analytical methods.
• - Stability of bioactive compounds during processing, storage, and digestion.
• - Regulatory and sustainability aspects.

We welcome submissions from multidisciplinary fields, including food science, biotechnology, chemical engineering, toxicology, and industrial process design. Special consideration will be given to research demonstrating integrated biorefinery models and cascading biomass use, contributing to a resilient and sustainable circular bioeconomy.

Keywords

Agri-food by-products; bioactive compounds; food waste valorization; biorefineries; functional ingredients; prebiotics; circular bioeconomy; polyphenols; food safety; green technologies; method validation; zero-waste

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted through the LIDSEN Submission System. Detailed information on manuscript preparation and submission is available in the Instructions for Authors. All submitted articles will be thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process and will be processed following the Editorial Process and Quality Control policy. Upon acceptance, the article will be immediately published in a regular issue of the journal and will be listed together on the special issue website, with a label that the article belongs to the Special Issue. LIDSEN distributes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License in an open-access model. The authors own the copyright to the article, and the article can be free to access, distribute, and reuse provided that the original work is correctly cited.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). Research articles and review articles are highly invited. Authors are encouraged to send the tentative title and abstract of the planned paper to the Editorial Office (rpse@lidsen.com) for record. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office.

Welcome your submission!