The development of food products within the food industry is increasingly driven by evolving consumer preferences, retailer requirements, and stringent shelf-life demands. Among the many attributes that define a food product’s appeal, flavor stands out as one of the most influential factors guiding consumer choice and satisfaction. Flavor is a complex interplay of taste, aroma, and chemesthetic sensations, all of which can be crafted through natural or artificial means and advanced processing techniques. However, maintaining flavor integrity throughout a product’s lifecycle remains a critical challenge. Environmental factors such as temperature fluctuations, light exposure, and humidity can contribute to the degradation of volatile flavor compounds, diminishing the sensory qualities of food. Leveraging innovative techniques—especially in the areas of encapsulation—presents new opportunities to better preserve and control these essential sensory attributes.
This Research Topic aims to spotlight groundbreaking advancements in micro- and nano-encapsulation technologies and materials designed to enhance flavor preservation in food products. The focus is on innovative approaches that safeguard volatile flavor compounds from degradation, enhance their stability, and facilitate controlled release during consumption. Key areas of interest include material selection, encapsulation methodologies, and the optimization of stability, controlled release profiles, and bioavailability. By fostering interdisciplinary research and collaboration, this topic seeks to catalyze new solutions that not only protect flavor integrity but also positively influence the sensory experience and shelf-life of diverse food items. Through a better understanding and implementation of tailored encapsulation strategies, the food industry can address longstanding challenges in flavor preservation and offer consistently high-quality products to consumers worldwide.
We welcome a wide range of manuscripts—including original research articles, case reports, and comprehensive reviews—that address, but are not limited to, the following themes: • Characterization and innovation in flavoring compounds • Emerging encapsulation techniques for flavor preservation • Advances in encapsulants and coating materials • Investigations into release mechanisms, controlled release technologies, and mathematical modeling approaches • Shelf-life assessments and storage behavior of encapsulated flavors • Simulated oral phase studies assessing encapsulated flavor release dynamics By contributing your research, insights, or case analyses to this collection, you will help shape the future of flavor science and deliver solutions for some of the industry's most complex challenges.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Mini Review
Original Research
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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.
