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Journals
Foods
Special Issues
Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring Their Value
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Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring Their Value

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2025 | Viewed by 5538

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Elixabet Díaz-de-Cerio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
I. U. CINQUIMA, Analytical Chemistry Group (TESEA), Faculty of Sciences, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Interests: green extraction techniques; circular economy; food by-products; food science; bioactive compounds; phenolic compounds; bioactivity; chromatography; mass spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ana María Gomez-Caravaca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Avd. Fuentenueva s/n, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: bioactive compounds; metabolomics; analytical techniques; chemical analysis; extraction processes; plant and food analysis; bioavailability; fuctional food; nutraceuticals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Silvia Valverde

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
I. U. CINQUIMA, Analytical Chemistry Group (TESEA), Faculty of Sciences, University of Valladolid, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
Interests: chromatography; sample treatment; mass spectrometry; analytical methods; validation; green chemistry; miniaturization; pesticides; bioactive compounds; pollutants; bee products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout history, food has been a basic need for humans to survive, has been part of the culture of each society, and (along with many plants) has been used in traditional medicine for health care. Nowadays, this relationship between health and diet has become an emergent concern evolving into the consumption of natural products. Thus, healthy foods and nutraceuticals are used for the prevention of many diseases.

This Special Issue, entitled “Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring their Value”, intends to display an overview of the latest trends on this topic, with a specific focus on:

  • The bioactive composition of healthy foods and nutraceuticals via the use of advanced analytical techniques (such as LC, GC coupled with MS, and NMR);
  • The effect of sample pre-treatment, extraction conditions, and extraction technology;
  • The relationship between composition and beneficial health effects (both in vitro and in vivo);
  • The valorisation of food waste and further applications.

We look forward to receiving your contributions to this Special Issue, including both original research articles and reviews.

Dr. Elixabet Díaz-de-Cerio
Prof. Dr. Ana María Gomez-Caravaca
Dr. Silvia Valverde
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.

Keywords

  • bioactive compounds
  • nutritional value
  • secondary metabolites
  • green extraction techniques
  • chromatography–mass spectrometry
  • bioactivity
  • healthy foods
  • nutraceuticals
  • food wastes
  • sample treatment

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 4946 KiB  
Article
Ex Vivo Study of Colon Health, Contractility and Innervation in Male and Female Rats after Regular Exposure to Instant Cascara Beverage
by Paula Gallego-Barceló, David Benítez-Álvarez, Ana Bagues, Blanca Silván-Ros, Alba Montalbán-Rodríguez, Laura López-Gómez, Gema Vera, María Dolores del Castillo, José A. Uranga and Raquel Abalo
Foods 2024, 13(16), 2474; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13162474 - 6 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1307
Abstract
Instant Cascara (IC) is a sustainable beverage made from dried coffee cherry pulp, a by-product of coffee processing. It is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds and has a high concentration of antioxidants. This study explored the impact of regular IC consumption on [...] Read more.
Instant Cascara (IC) is a sustainable beverage made from dried coffee cherry pulp, a by-product of coffee processing. It is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds and has a high concentration of antioxidants. This study explored the impact of regular IC consumption on colonic motor function and innervation. Over a period of 4 weeks, male and female healthy rats were given drinking water containing 10 mg/mL of IC. Thereafter, colon samples were obtained to evaluate the longitudinal (LM) and circular (CM) smooth muscle contractile response to acetylcholine (ACh) and electrical field stimulation (EFS) in an organ bath, before and after atropine administration (10−6 M). Histological and immunohistochemical analyses assessed colon damage, muscle thickness, and immunoreactivity to substance P (SP) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). ACh and EFS induced similar responses across groups, but the CM response to EFS was greater in females compared with males, despite their lower body weight. Atropine completely blocked the response to ACh but only partially antagonized the neural response to EFS, particularly that of CM in females treated with IC, which had a greater liquid intake than those exposed to water. However, in the myenteric ganglia, no statistically significant differences were observed in SP or nNOS. Our results suggest that regular IC exposure may enhance specific neural pathway functions, particularly in females, possibly due to their increased IC consumption. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring Their Value)
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22 pages, 5652 KiB  
Article
Chemical Components, Nutritional Value, Volatile Organic Compounds and Biological Activities In Vitro of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) Water with Different Maturities
by Yufeng Zhang, Jintao Kan, Xiaoyan Liu, Fei Song, Kexue Zhu, Niu Li and Youlin Zhang
Foods 2024, 13(6), 863; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13060863 - 13 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2116
Abstract
The differences in chemical components, nutritional value, volatile organic compounds, antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibiting capacity in vitro in coconut waters with different maturities (8, 10, and 12 months after pollination and germination height below 10 cm were named CW-8, CW-10, CW-2, and [...] Read more.
The differences in chemical components, nutritional value, volatile organic compounds, antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibiting capacity in vitro in coconut waters with different maturities (8, 10, and 12 months after pollination and germination height below 10 cm were named CW-8, CW-10, CW-2, and MCW, respectively) from the tall coconut variety were compared and analyzed. Results showed that as the maturity increased, the ash and reducing sugar in coconut water gradually decreased, while the protein content and fatty acids continued to increase. Potassium, phosphorus, and sodium in four coconut waters showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing, and CW-12 had the highest content of 2133.85 mg/kg, 239.74 mg/kg, and 310.75 mg/kg, respectively. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in higher amounts are alcohols and esters in coconut waters, among which 2-methylbutyl acetate, ethyl acetate monomer, and 2-methyl-1-propanol dimer were the characteristic volatile substances that distinguish MCW from the other three coconut waters. MCW has the best DPPH-scavenging and ferrous-ion-chelating ability (87.39% and 7.65%), while CW-8 had the highest hydroxyl and ABTS radicals scavenging rate (97.31% and 83.48%) and α-glucosidase inhibitory rate (81.36%). These results can provide support for the differential and high-value utilization of coconut water with different maturities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring Their Value)
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Review

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21 pages, 2224 KiB  
Review
The Role of Nondigestible Oligosaccharides in Alleviating Human Chronic Diseases by Regulating the Gut Microbiota: A Review
by Meiyu Yuan, Zhongwei Zhang, Tongying Liu, Hua Feng, Yuhuan Liu and Kai Chen
Foods 2024, 13(13), 2157; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13132157 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1495
Abstract
The gut has been a focus of chronic disease research. The gut microbiota produces metabolites that act as signaling molecules and substrates, closely influencing host health. Nondigestible oligosaccharides (NDOs), as a common dietary fiber, play an important role in regulating the structure and [...] Read more.
The gut has been a focus of chronic disease research. The gut microbiota produces metabolites that act as signaling molecules and substrates, closely influencing host health. Nondigestible oligosaccharides (NDOs), as a common dietary fiber, play an important role in regulating the structure and function of the gut microbiota. Their mechanism of action is mainly attributed to providing a carbon source as specific probiotics, producing related metabolites, and regulating the gut microbial community. However, due to the selective utilization of oligosaccharides, some factors, such as the type and structure of oligosaccharides, have different impacts on the composition of microbial populations and the production of metabolites in the colon ecosystem. This review systematically describes the key factors influencing the selective utilization of oligosaccharides by microorganisms and elaborates how oligosaccharides affect the host’s immune system, inflammation levels, and energy metabolism by regulating microbial diversity and metabolic function, which in turn affects the onset and progress of chronic diseases, especially diabetes, obesity, depression, intestinal inflammatory diseases, and constipation. In this review, we re-examine the interaction mechanisms between the gut microbiota and its associated metabolites and diseases, and we explore new strategies for promoting human health and combating chronic diseases through dietary interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Foods and Nutraceuticals: Exploring Their Value)
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