Polyphenols are abundant secondary metabolites present in many species of plants. Over the last years, polyphenols have increasingly shown interest for academia and food industry mainly due to their biological activity and their role in the prevention of various diseases associated with oxidative stress. The intake of polyphenols in our diet is not only closely related to human health but also related to food quality, since these compounds are greatly related to organoleptic properties such as color, astringency, or bitterness. However, there is a controversy in the real effect of dietary polyphenols on the human health and so larger research has been required. Among others, the existence of a large number of polyphenols bearing different chemical substituent and the limited knowledge of their tissue distribution, bioavailability, and concentration are factors that complicate the understanding of their biological effect. Furthermore, polyphenols are involved in several biotransformation processes which will lead to modifying their biological activity. Thus, research must go deeper in the knowledge about this issue in order to establish more accurate in vivo biomarkers in order to draw conclusions on the biological effects of dietary phenolics. Polyphenols not only are important from a therapeutic point of view but also influence food components function and even nutrition. The interaction with other food components emerges as an important mechanism involved in these biological effects between food science and technology influence. Interest in protein-polyphenol interactions has increased in biological systems in general in the last decades.

Furthermore, the implication of the polyphenolic structures in the organoleptic properties and their interaction with other food components, such as proteins, carbohydrates, or even cell receptors, is gaining increasing attention. However, the biochemical and physiological mechanisms involved in sensations related to some important organoleptic properties of food such as astringency or bitterness are not fully defined. Moreover, it is important to understand how structural properties affect the reactivity of polyphenols in order to determine their role in food quality.

This special issue is intended to present and discuss thoroughly the role of polyphenols in food quality from several points of view from their biological activity and their importance in nutrition to their role in the organoleptic properties of food, which is expected to be an important breakthrough in the research of polyphenols in food.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Advances in chemical analysis of polyphenols and food
• Influence of food processing, technology, and biotechnology on polyphenolic composition and food quality
• Impact of polyphenols on sensory perception: color, appearance, texture, and flavor
• Role of polyphenols in food nutrition and health
• Food waste valorization: use of waste of food industry as polyphenols source
• Polyphenols and other food components interactions: impact on bioavailability and organoleptic properties