The Antioxidant Phytochemicals Physicochemical Innovations in Food Science and Technology

The international community’s attention has lately focussed on the emerging market of dietary phytochemical supplements, which are considered to be safe and have significant functional impacts. As an important example, anthocyanin is considered a key functional and bioactive compound that has a significant impact on the food hydrocolloid systems. Also, it can suppress lipid accumulation in adipocytes due to the broad inhibition of the transcription factors regulating lipogenesis. This may partially explain the mechanism by which anthocyanins exert their anti-obesity and other related bioactive effects. In addition, many studies have reported that these kinds of phytochemicals have high antiradical activity owing to their unique chemical structure. Furthermore, scientists are trying to find instant and non-invasive techniques to explore the scientific principles of phytochemicals’ functional principles, especially bioactive macromolecules, and micromolcules. These phytochemicals increase the media (eg., lipid and protein media) antioxidant, anticancer, and other physicochemical, final product quality, and storage characteristics. Besides, the plant and animal health-related key components like carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins are precursors of essential pathways and are novel sources of bioactive molecules that are affected by oxidation and other physical and chemical processes. These physicochemical changes could affect the quality of the final food product. Therefore, treatments with novel antioxidant agents could positively affect the field of the food industry, especially in protein and lipid production considering their health-related benefits. As an example, microalgae lipids provide many intriguing aspects in the food science and nutrition area as a viable alternative in food technology. They could have up to 40% eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) of its fatty acids, as a functional bioactive molecule. And their combination with the other natural safe antioxidants (e.g. polyphenols, flavonoids, or carotenoids) could raise their bioactivities, while caring about their storage, processing, and quality efficiency.

This Research Topic aims to present and highlight the potential usage of antioxidant phytochemicals as alternative edible sources in food technology for healthier human consumption. Furthermore, the advanced destructive and non-destructive techniques for measuring the physicochemical changes and explaining the functional mechanisms for facilitating the tracking of these functional molecules’ during the industrial process are welcomed.

To address these issues, this Research Topic welcomes high-quality review, mini-review, and original research articles that present innovative solutions and recent technologies of identification, extraction, and novel application of natural antioxidants for enhancing the processing and quality, and functionality of the food products. The main research areas of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Natural bioactive products
• Nano and microencapsulation
• Emerging extraction technologies
• Edible films and bioactive materials
• Green chemistry
• Analytical methods
• Food materials science
• Supramolecular chemistry

Keywords: Biological active agents, Antioxidants, Phytochemicals, Functional foods, Health-promoting effects, Absorption and metabolism, Food technology, Metabolism of action, Physiochemical changes

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.