Dear colleagues,

We are currently curating a special issue for the journal MOLECULES entitled “Natural and Synthetic Bioactive Compounds in Food - Risks and Benefits”.

My name is PD Dr. Andreas Eisenreich (German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR)) and I am serving as guest editor for this Special Issue. In this context, I would like to invite you to contribute a manuscript (original paper, review article or short communication) to this project. The deadline for submitting a contribution is 31. August 2026.

You are free to choose the topic of the manuscript, but it should be in the scope of this Special Issue (see below).

Brief description of the special edition:

Bioactive compounds are natural or synthetic substances that affect living organisms, tissues, and cells. Thereby, these substances can offer benefits for human health, e.g., in the context of disease prevention and new drug development. However, they also pose risks, including potential toxicity or undesirable interference with natural biological processes. In this Special Issue of Molecules, we will shed more light on the effects of naturally occurring and synthetic bioactive compounds in foods from a health perspective. In this context, different aspects will be addressed, including physiological, toxicological, and analytical issues of such substances. To this end, selected examples of these compounds will be used to illustrate their potential effects on human health, along with existing knowledge gaps such as those related to potential modes of action and hazard assessment.

About the journal and the Special Issue:

MOLECULES (ISSN: 1420-3049, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules; impact factor: 4.6) is available via the usual literature portals such as Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, AGRIS, etc. and it is an open access journal (under CC BY license), which offers public accessibility and thus an unhindered and wide reach for a broad readership. The Article Processing Charge (APC) amount to 2,700 CHF (approx. 2,870 EUR). Further information on APCs, Open Access, Instructions for Authors etc. can be found on the homepage of the special issue (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules/special_issues/17U1TM20JA).

We would be pleased to hear from you as soon as possible.