International Journal of Food Properties

Plant-based foods are leading the market growth rate and innovation worldwide. This is linked to different drivers, such as life-style choices, dietary restrictions, or sustainability. The latter deserve a special attention, since the 2022 Global Report of the Lancet Countdown stated that a transition to a more balanced and plant-based diet could reduce the emission caused by the agriculture sector by 55%. The emissions coming from the food system are equal to 33% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
The transition to a plant-based diet, which mainly account for the new available food’s analogues to animal sources, is facing several hurdles, such as low nutritional value, low market availability, and different taste and texture than conventional foods, yet higher price. Fermentation is a powerful tool to overcome those challenges in the manufacturing of new plant-based foods.
It is well known the role of microorganisms for improving textural and sensorial properties, nutritional profile, as well as to convey safety to the product, prolonging the shelf-life, hence reducing food-waste. However, considering the different sources of plant-based matrices, and the countless microorganisms, high throughput screening methods and/or innovative analytical methods are needed to generate data on the role of the microorganisms, and their combinations, in the plant-based matrices.

The aim of this article collection is to explore the role of different microorganisms in different plant-based matrices, including legumes, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and their ingredients, which will lead to innovative and safe solutions for the manufacturing of plant-based foods.

This Article Collection aims to bring together original research articles and review on the topic of fermentation to improve plant-based foods.

Potential subtopics for this collection include, but are not limited to:

• Alternative proteins
• Dairy- and meat- analogues
• Fruits and vegetable
• Juices applications
• Rheology
• Sensorial analysis
• Characterization of aroma components
• Food safety

We welcome original research papers, reviews, short communications, technical reports and commentaries.

Please contact Xiunan Kong at [email protected] with any queries regarding this Article Collection.

Dr. Patrizia Buldo is leading research collaborations, with industry and academia, in the fermented food sector at Sacco System.
Dr. Buldo has a strong international experience, both in academia and industry, in different food applications, including dairy and plant based. She has an academic background in food technology, dairy science and technology from University of Perugia (Italy), Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Aarhus and Copenhagen Universities (Denmark). In the last 12 years she specialized in food physics, focusing on understanding the microstructural building of different food matrices, and characterizing their properties under different processing conditions. She has been working with fermentation for more than 8 years, focusing on the role of microorganisms contributing to physical and sensorial properties in different food matrices.
Dr. Buldo has also been involved in national and international research programmers, teaching activities at international Universities, supervision of PhD, Master and Bachelor students.

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