World hunger, dictated by social, economic, and/or environmental issues, is one of the top concerns in today's society. Despite numerous efforts by governments and non-profit organizations around the globe, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not yet achieved the objective of eradicating poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition. To do so will involve finding more nutritious and bioactive food alternatives, sustainable agricultural production systems, and viable industrial technologies and mechanisms that ensure food security. Moreover, there is a very limited number of plant species used for human consumption. Even those consumed worldwide do not always have the nutritional and bioactive potential necessary to reach the recommended daily doses of essential elements for humans. For all this, non-conventional edible plants could represent a viable and safe response for the development of new food products.
With the aim of finding new edible plant alternatives that provide for the nutritional and bioactive needs of today’s consumers, whether in developed or less developed countries, so-called unconventional food plants have been gaining prominence in academic and industrial fields. Sustainable agriculture research coupled with in-depth nutritional and bioactive profiling, as well as new food product development, are valuable resources to explore for the incorporation of these plants in an average diet.
This Research Topic aims to bring together state-of-the-art research and development contributions that address key challenges and topics related to the valorization and exploitation of unconventional plants for the development of new food products and ingredients. The authors are encouraged to contribute with manuscripts that address the following themes:
i) in-depth proximate, chemical, and bioactive profile studies of these alternative food sources; including experimental design studies to optimize the production of high value-added ingredients;
ii) new food products development based on these unconventional plants or their extracts enriched in bioactive compounds (not excluding other categories, such as preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers, thickeners, among others).
Other related research findings are also strongly encouraged.
Authors are cordially invited to contribute with original research articles and reviews.
World hunger, dictated by social, economic, and/or environmental issues, is one of the top concerns in today's society. Despite numerous efforts by governments and non-profit organizations around the globe, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has not yet achieved the objective of eradicating poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition. To do so will involve finding more nutritious and bioactive food alternatives, sustainable agricultural production systems, and viable industrial technologies and mechanisms that ensure food security. Moreover, there is a very limited number of plant species used for human consumption. Even those consumed worldwide do not always have the nutritional and bioactive potential necessary to reach the recommended daily doses of essential elements for humans. For all this, non-conventional edible plants could represent a viable and safe response for the development of new food products.
With the aim of finding new edible plant alternatives that provide for the nutritional and bioactive needs of today’s consumers, whether in developed or less developed countries, so-called unconventional food plants have been gaining prominence in academic and industrial fields. Sustainable agriculture research coupled with in-depth nutritional and bioactive profiling, as well as new food product development, are valuable resources to explore for the incorporation of these plants in an average diet.
This Research Topic aims to bring together state-of-the-art research and development contributions that address key challenges and topics related to the valorization and exploitation of unconventional plants for the development of new food products and ingredients. The authors are encouraged to contribute with manuscripts that address the following themes:
i) in-depth proximate, chemical, and bioactive profile studies of these alternative food sources; including experimental design studies to optimize the production of high value-added ingredients;
ii) new food products development based on these unconventional plants or their extracts enriched in bioactive compounds (not excluding other categories, such as preservatives, colorants, emulsifiers, thickeners, among others).
Other related research findings are also strongly encouraged.
Authors are cordially invited to contribute with original research articles and reviews.
