Utilization of Biocontrol Agents and Natural Compounds for Enhancing Food Preservation and Functionality

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to submit short communications, original articles or review articles to this Special Issue of Foods.

Plant products and their derived compounds are attracting growing interest due to their diverse bioactivities, making them valuable as natural additives in foods. Over recent decades, the utilization of plant products, such as essential oils, extracts and their compounds, has gained considerable traction in the food industry as an alternative to synthetic antimicrobials and additives. A novel approach to preventing the proliferation of microorganisms involves the use of natural products as antifungal, antibacterial and antioxidant preservatives. Additionally, the utilization of protective cultures, particularly lactic acid bacteria capable of producing organic acids, hydrogen peroxide and bacteriocins, represents an additional strategy to enhance the safety and shelf-life of various food products, including minimally processed fruits and vegetables, vegetable drinks, meats and dairy products.

The potential application of natural essential oils and their compounds, alongside bio-control agents, as functional components in beverages, meats and dairy products, is gaining momentum due to increasing concerns about potentially hazardous and toxic synthetic additives. Natural products are now recognized as valuable sources of food preservative compounds, offering a healthier alternative to synthetic preservatives while simultaneously maintaining food quality parameters. Recent studies have demonstrated their efficacy in improving the safety and quality of fruit-based products and raw meat. Furthermore, the utilization of natural antioxidant and antimicrobial bioactive molecules is on the rise, as they can protect the human body from free radicals and delay the onset of chronic or acute diseases. The bioactive molecules present in aromatic and medicinal plants and fungi are of particular interest due to the escalating issue of drug-resistant bacteria, particularly concerning foodborne infections.

Biocontrol agents are microbial cultures capable of producing natural antimicrobials, including bacteriocins, organic acids, volatile organic compounds and hydrolytic enzymes. The major effect of bacteriocins or bacteriocin-producing LAB (lactic acid bacteria) on food is obtained when their use is combined with other preservation methods. The combined use of natural compounds and biocontrol agents in fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products is becoming more and more important due to growing concerns about potentially dangerous and toxic synthetic additives. The combination of these two hurdles can improve the safety and shelf life (inactivation of spoilage or pathogenic microorganisms) of the final products, while maintaining or stabilizing their sensory and nutritional quality. This Special Issue actively discusses new applications of natural bioactive molecules and biocontrol agents in food preservation and functionality enhancement to improve the quality of various processed foods.

Dr. Danka Bukvicki
Dr. Eisuke Kuraya
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.

• natural food preservatives
• natural compounds
• functional foods
• microbial metabolites
• biocontrol agents
• bacteriocins