The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, dietary insufficiencies, and lifestyle-related health challenges has intensified the global focus on functional foods. These foods, fortified with bioactive compounds, hold the potential to bridge the gap between nutrition and therapeutic intervention, addressing both preventative and remedial health concerns. This collection, "Exploring the Role of Functional Foods in Addressing Modern Nutritional Gaps and Health Challenges," aims to curate cutting-edge research that explores the development, efficacy, and societal impact of functional foods. We invite submissions that delve into the biochemical mechanisms, clinical outcomes, and technological innovations related to functional food production and consumption.

This Collection stands out by bridging the gap between functional food research and real-world applications for global health challenges. Unlike existing studies that focus on either biochemical mechanisms or clinical outcomes in isolation, our approach integrates multiple perspectives, including food technology, public health, sustainability, and consumer behavior. Additionally, the direct alignment with SDGs (2, 3, and 12) makes this collection unique in its scope and impact. SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) – Functional foods as a means to address micronutrient deficiencies and improve global nutrition. SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) – The role of functional foods in preventing and managing chronic diseases. SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) – Sustainable sourcing, production innovations, and food waste reduction in functional food development.

By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, this collection aspires to advance the understanding and application of functional foods in mitigating modern nutritional challenges. To ensure a well-rounded collection, we propose the following key subtopics:

• Bioactive Compounds and Nutritional Enhancement: polyphenols, peptides, probiotics, and prebiotics in functional foods;

• Dietary Interventions and Health Benefits: functional foods for metabolic disorders, cardiovascular health, gut microbiota modulation;

• Technological Innovations in Functional Food Production: novel food processing methods, encapsulation, and bioavailability improvement;

• Regulatory and Consumer Aspects: regulatory challenges, labeling, consumer acceptance, and market trends;

• Functional Foods and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Role in combating malnutrition, promoting sustainable agriculture, and reducing food waste;

• Public Health and Nutrition Sciences: Investigating the impact of functional foods on global health;

• Biochemistry and Food Science: Exploring the molecular mechanisms and bioavailability of bioactive compounds;

• Food Technology and Engineering: Innovative processing, preservation, and formulation techniques;

• Regulatory and Market Experts: Consumer acceptance, labeling policies, and commercialization pathways.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 2, SDG 3 and SDG 12.

Keywords:

Functional foods; Bioactive compounds; Chronic disease prevention; Probiotics and prebiotics; Sustainable nutrition; Food technology innovations; Nutraceuticals; Regulatory challenges in functional foods; Consumer behavior and acceptance;

In recent years, there has been growing understanding and evidences about human health and its relationship to food. Although the battle against a number of illnesses continues likewise lactose intolerance, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, overweight and diabetes, cancer, colorectal cancer and coronary artery disease. Therefore, scientific communities are aiming to employ a cutting-edge dietary-based strategy such as probiotics to create a better human health and well-being. Since, such innovative dietary approaches not only offer nutritional benefits but it provide various health-giving properties. Over the last few years, probiotics have gained a lot of popularity due to the growing scientific evidences demonstrating their potential therapeutic benefits. The Food and Agriculture Organization has described probiotics as "live micro-organisms that, when given in sufficient amounts, confer a health benefit on the host." Many fermented foods contain live microorganisms that are genetically related to probiotic strains. Foods that have undergone fermentation using probiotic strains have shown to improve nutritional value and functional properties by converting substrates into bioactive and bioavailable end-products. Furthermore, probiotic supplementation in diet have also demonstrated a promising strategy against a variety of enteric pathogens because of their unique ability to either alienate pathogens or compete with the pathogenic microbiota for adhesion sites, or to stimulate, modulate, and regulate the host's immune response by triggering the activation of particular genes both inside and outside the host intestinal tract. Probiotics supplementation can be done by adding them to meals and beverages, whether they are dairy- or non-dairy-based. Furthermore, Probiotics' sensitivity to gastrointestinal stressors and processing conditions pose the biggest obstacle to their use in the food sector. In addition, there are several safety issues encountered during its administration. While at the same time, it is necessary to update, reform, and tighten the policies and regulations for the food manufacturers dealing with such functional foods to protect consumers from false and misleading claims.

Hence, various scientific evidence suggest that probiotics benefits in preserving and improving human health without or minimal negative effects. In addition, it will help in improving the overall health of gut microbiota leading to reduction in various chronic illness. Therefore, the current issue will focus on isolation, identification and characterization of probiotics strains, development of various probiotics or plant based probiotics, application of probiotics strains in various metabolic disorders as well as uncovering the potential of probiotics as a targeted therapy. It is hoped that prominent scientists working in this area will be able to contribute to novel findings and results within this field. In this topical collection, we welcome the submission of original research or review article with a focus on the following subjects as mentioned below (but not limited to):

• Current innovation and product developments for production of probiotics.

• Role of various probiotic strains and its effect for the maintenance of gut microbiota and human health.

• Role of probiotic as nutraceuticals and functional food for the management of different metabolic disorders.

• Uncovering the potential of probiotic as a targeted therapy.

• Mechanistic approaches to understand probiotics and its clinical application.

• Current advancements and technological innovations in the field of probiotic as functional food.

• Application of probiotics for the management of gastrointestinal disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, improving immunity, neurodegenerative disorders and many more.

• Safety guideline, potential adverse effect and challenges associated for the development of probiotics.

• Probiotic supplementation and its clinical doses for better human health and well-being.

Keywords:

Probiotics; Functional food; Health effect; Bifidobacterium; Lactobacillus; Fermentation Cancer; Diabetes; metabolic disorders