About this Research Topic

Background

Ocean is a great treasure and can provide important food and nutrition resources for humans. With the increase in global population size, living standards and food demands of mankind, consumption of marine foods will continue to increase globally. Food production from the ocean is sustainable and has significantly lower environmental pressures than that on land. Indeed, the ocean can theoretically supply 3 billion tons of marine food to feed 30 billion people. In addition, marine food raw materials can provide high quality sources of protein for human consumption. However, it is important to view the potential benefits of marine food consumption in the context of increasing concerns with ocean pollution (e.g., plastic debris, industrial waste) and its potential to damage marine life.

Research has shown that diets with increased consumption of marine foods are associated with reduced risk of diet-related chronic diseases. Marine foods are low in calories, and contain functional active substances such as bioactive peptides, terpenes, polyketides, alkaloids, unsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and minerals, which have been shown to have positive health effects. As such, the extraction of functional active substances and the development of functional foods from marine resources is attracting increasing attention in the field of nutrition and health, and food science and technology.

To date, studies on marine foods have focused on three areas: (1) animal and plant-based sources of raw materials such as fish, shrimp, shellfish, and aquatic plants; (2) functional active ingredients such as bioactive peptides, unsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and minerals which can be extracted from raw materials or their by-products; (3) preparation and development of functional ingredients such as fish oil emulsions, bioactive peptide powders, polysaccharide capsules, marine algae tablets, and shellfish-originated drinks. However, further studies related to sensory (e.g., taste) evaluation and molecular mechanisms and pathways of the different types of marine foods are important, to further advance discovery of new functional ingredients, product applications and nutritional and pharmaceutical therapeutics. In addition, with the increasing concern of ocean pollution and the risk it poses to marine sources, food safety aspects of marine foods (e.g., toxicity) also require further investigation.

With the development and application of novel and emerging processing techniques (e.g., microwave, radio frequency, 3D printing), extraction techniques (e.g., ultrasonic extraction, microwave-assisted extraction) and analytical technologies (e.g., metabolomics, lipidomics, fast detection techniques), there is the potential for significant advances in our understanding. It is envisaged that these advances will provide the knowledge required to promote and optimize the development of marine-based products for human consumption.

The objective of this Research Topic is to provide a comprehensive compendium of research studies which will aid in the development and optimization of foods from animal and plant marine sources. Original Research and Review articles are preferred but other article types will be considered. Subtopics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Differences in the composition (e.g., nutritional, toxins, microbiota) and functionality of marine foods from different global oceans and sources (i.e., plant vs animal marine foods)
• Current (e.g., ultrasound-assisted extraction and enzyme assisted extraction) and new/emerging (e.g., omics, cell culture, 3D printing) techniques to advance active ingredients from marine sources
• Reformulation of foods with marine sources to enhance nutritional value
• Evaluation of the nutritional value of marine food by-products and discards
• Preclinical and clinical trials with marine functional foods based on strong molecular evidence
• Relationship between chemical components and nutrition values of marine foods
• Correlation between in vitro and in vivo nutritional function of marine foods
• Food safety issues (e.g., adverse effects, allergies, toxicity)
• Sensory (taste and aroma) issues associated with marine foods and consumer acceptance

Enrique Barrajón-Catalán holds patents in “Extraction of bioactive Compounds from wine industrial byproducts” (ES20150000423), “Modified pectin production from critus” (ES2013-01183), “A synergic combination of polyphenols with antibiotic properties” (ES201301181), “Ultrasounds combined instant-vacuun machine for extraction” (PCT/ES2013/000191) and “Cistus plants extracts enriched in polyphenols with biological activities” (ES20090002106) and is a co-founder of Ilice Effitech SL. Jian Zhong holds a patent in "A sorting equipment for fish fillets with bone and its intelligent control system"(ZL 201710367428.3). Jose Manuel Lorenzo holds patents in meat and meat products. All other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.

Keywords: Marine Foods, Functional Active Substances, Functional Foods, Fish, Extraction Techniques

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.

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