This joint Special Issue will highlight cutting-edge research and reviews that explore the role of carotenoids across food systems. Submit your manuscript by January 31, 2027.
Carotenoids are a diverse family of naturally occurring pigments that play critical roles throughout food systems, from plant growth and crop resilience to food quality and human health. Growing interest in sustainable food production, biofortification, functional foods, and nutrition-driven health promotion has placed carotenoids at the center of multidisciplinary research spanning agriculture, food science, nutrition, biotechnology, and public health. Advances in analytical techniques, breeding technologies, processing methods, and nutritional assessment are generating new insights into the production, stability, bioavailability, and health impacts of carotenoids across the entire food chain.
This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research and reviews that explore the role of carotenoids across food systems.
We welcome contributions including but not limited to:
- Carotenoid photochemistry, photophysics, and photosynthesis
- Carotenoid biosynthesis, genetics, crop improvement, and biofortification
- Agronomic and environmental factors influencing carotenoid accumulation
- Innovative extraction, processing, and preservation technologies
- Food matrix design and formulation strategies to improve carotenoid bioaccessibility and bioavailability
- Carotenoid delivery systems and encapsulation
- Processing-induced transformations of carotenoids
- Influence of carotenoids on food color, flavor, sensory perception, and consumer acceptance
- Properties of carotenoids in human health: clinical and preclinical studies
- Studies focused on emerging carotenoid sources, circular bioeconomy approaches, sustainable production systems, and novel analytical methods are also encouraged
By highlighting advances across disciplines, this Special Issue seeks to foster a systems-level understanding of carotenoids and their potential to support more nutritious, resilient, and sustainable food systems.
Participating Journals
ACS Agricultural Science & Technology for manuscripts related to agricultural science, technology, and engineering
ACS Food Science & Technology for manuscripts related to food science, technology, and engineering
ACS Nutrition Science for manuscripts related to nutrition science, technology, and engineering
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry for manuscripts related to the chemistry and biochemistry of agriculture and food
Submit your manuscript by January 31, 2027.
Organizing Editors
Thomas Hofmann, Editor-in-Chief
Technische Universität München, Germany
Jaume Amengual, Deputy Editor, ACS Nutrition Science
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, USA
Laura McConnell, Deputy Editor, ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
Bayer Crop Science, USA
Coralia Osorio Roa, Deputy Editor, ACS Food Science & Technology
Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia
Submission Information
We welcome submissions for this Special Issue through January 31, 2027. For more information on submission requirements, please visit the respective journal’s author guidelines pages:
- ACS Agricultural Science & Technology
- ACS Food Science & Technology
- ACS Nutrition Science
- Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Acceptable manuscript types for consideration in this Special Issue will include all manuscript types available across all four journals. Papers accepted for publication for this Special Issue will be available ASAP (as soon as publishable) online as soon as they are accepted. After all submissions have been published, they will then be compiled online on a dedicated landing page to form the Special Issue. Manuscripts submitted for consideration will undergo the full rigorous peer review process expected from ACS journals.
Open Access: There are diverse open access options for publications in American Chemical Society journals. Please visit our Open Science Resource Center for more information.
How to Submit
- Log in to the ACS Publishing Center and select ACS Agricultural Science & Technology, ACS Food Science & Technology, ACS Nutrition Science, or Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
- Select your manuscript type; upload your manuscript and related files.
- Review the title and abstract fields to ensure any pre-populated information has uploaded correctly.
- Under "Special Issue Selection," select Carotenoids in Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition.
- Confirm all other information has uploaded correctly.
- Submit your article.
If you have any general questions regarding submission to this Special Issue, please contact the senior managing editor (managing.editor@jafc.acs.org).
