Food & Function provides a unique venue for physicists, chemists, biochemists, nutritionists and other food scientists to publish novel, cutting-edge, original research focussing on food, its nutrients and their relation to human health and nutrition.

We welcome research describing the:

Physical properties and structure of food and how this relates to sensory perception and human health
Biochemical and physiological actions of food components
Interactions between foods, gut microbiota and human physiology
Nutritional and biological evaluation of food
Clinical and population studies using food or food components
Development of biomarkers of food intake and effects on human health
We also welcome systematic reviews and meta-analyses of existing studies in the literature, provided these are objective and scientifically valid
Food in this context is defined as materials of plant, animal or mineral origin, which are consumed orally (by humans) for pleasure and to sustain growth and vital processes.

Examples of research topics that are of interest to be published in Food & Function are:

Chemistry and physics of food components and digestion processes
Relationship between the physical properties/structure of food and nutrition and human health - for example, impact of food matrix or processing on nutrient release and uptake
Molecular properties and physiological effects of food components (nutrients, fibres, essential micronutrients, phytochemicals, bioactives, food substitutes, novel ingredients, allergens, flavours and fragrances)
Nutritional and health effects of food including bioavailability and metabolism assessment of food components (nutrients, micronutrients and other microconstituents)
Efficacy and mechanisms of food constituents in the body - including biomarkers of intakes, exposure and effects
Impacts of foods/food components on gut microorganisms and human physiology - For example impact of fermented foods
Role of nutrition and diet in human disease prevention and development
Cellular and molecular effects/mechanisms of food/food components
image block
The following types of research are not within the scope of Food & Function:

Research relating to traditional herbal medicines, medicinal plants or active compounds extracted from such plants (materials that are primarily consumed as medicine, i.e. the intended purpose is primarily to treat, cure or prevent a non-deficiency disease) or relating to foods not recognised as human diet contributors
Animal nutrition research that is not primarily designed as a model to benefit human nutrition (for example, studies of growth/accretion, heat stress, weaning, ruminant digestion, meat quality, etc.)
Treatments administered by non-oral routes such as injection (subcutaneous, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, etc.), dermal/transdermal, rectal, inhalation, nasal, etc. Exceptions are when such routes of administration are used for mechanistic/control purposes in the experimental design
Pharmacological/pharmaceutical approaches: Encapsulation, emulsification and/or pure controlled release of compounds or bioactives that do not come directly from edible foods, such as dietary supplements - these are better suited to a pharmaceutical journal
In vitro or in vivo studies with poorly defined (insufficiently characterised) extracts and studies without appropriate controls will not be considered
Cells studies not considering the metabolism of food components ingested – for example, irrelevant exposure of cells to compounds not present in the body after absorption
Manuscripts with only a fully theoretical/bioinformatic approach and without appropriate support from analytical evidence will not be considered for publication
Studies focussing solely on food engineering, preservation and sustainable technologies – these can be published in our companion journal Sustainable Food Technology
Pure food analysis - these can be published in Analytical Methods

Communications
Full papers
Reviews
Comments

Editor-in-chief
Christine Morand, INRA, France
Associate editors
Laura Bravo-Clemente, Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition, Spain
Mario Ferruzzi, North Carolina State University, USA
Isabel C F R Ferreira, Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Portugal
Monica Galleano, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Francisco Goycoolea, University of Leeds, UK 
Duo Li, Qingdao University, China
Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, King's College London, UK
Hang Xiao, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Members
Hitoshi Ashida, Kobe University, Japan