The food industry is increasingly focused on developing sustainable and functional foods to address the challenges of growing global food demand, environmental constraints, and health issues. With the world's population constantly increasing, food production faces significant hurdles due to climate change, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and a rise in diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. Additionally, modern consumers are more conscious of food quality and health benefits, creating a demand for functional foods that offer both nutritional and sensory advantages. Functional foods are designed to manage or reduce chronic diseases, while future foods aim to provide environmental sustainability without compromising the ecosystem.
Functional foods comprise traditional or novel items infused with ingredients that impart health benefits, ranging from prebiotics, probiotics, fibers, and biomacromolecules to polyphenols. The industry strives to innovate sustainable ingredients, emphasizing reduced consumption of animal-based foods due to their environmental impact. Alternatives such as legume-based proteins, algae, cultured meat, microbial proteins, and edible insects are explored to develop eco-friendly products. These novel materials pose nutritional and functionality challenges given the vital role animal proteins play in human nutrition, but maintaining textural properties remains crucial for consumer acceptability. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to leverage rheological techniques to enhance quality characteristics in functional and future foods.
To gather further insights in the realm of rheological properties in food, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Flow properties and linear and non-linear viscoelastic properties of functional and future foods and their correlation with product quality
• Characterization of nutritional and mechanical properties of functional and novel ingredients and their impact on overall quality
• Innovative approaches and emerging technologies to enhance rheological properties and the quality of functional and future foods
• This research topic welcomes original research articles and reviews across these sub-themes.
The food industry is increasingly focused on developing sustainable and functional foods to address the challenges of growing global food demand, environmental constraints, and health issues. With the world's population constantly increasing, food production faces significant hurdles due to climate change, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and a rise in diet-related chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. Additionally, modern consumers are more conscious of food quality and health benefits, creating a demand for functional foods that offer both nutritional and sensory advantages. Functional foods are designed to manage or reduce chronic diseases, while future foods aim to provide environmental sustainability without compromising the ecosystem.
Functional foods comprise traditional or novel items infused with ingredients that impart health benefits, ranging from prebiotics, probiotics, fibers, and biomacromolecules to polyphenols. The industry strives to innovate sustainable ingredients, emphasizing reduced consumption of animal-based foods due to their environmental impact. Alternatives such as legume-based proteins, algae, cultured meat, microbial proteins, and edible insects are explored to develop eco-friendly products. These novel materials pose nutritional and functionality challenges given the vital role animal proteins play in human nutrition, but maintaining textural properties remains crucial for consumer acceptability. Therefore, this Research Topic aims to leverage rheological techniques to enhance quality characteristics in functional and future foods.
To gather further insights in the realm of rheological properties in food, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Flow properties and linear and non-linear viscoelastic properties of functional and future foods and their correlation with product quality
• Characterization of nutritional and mechanical properties of functional and novel ingredients and their impact on overall quality
• Innovative approaches and emerging technologies to enhance rheological properties and the quality of functional and future foods
• This research topic welcomes original research articles and reviews across these sub-themes.