Industrial Crops and Products

• Industrial Crops and Products is an international journal publishing research on cultivated plants (crops) of industrial interest (non-food, non-feed). Papers concern both crop-oriented and bio-based materials for research along with emerging and new technologies. Application of industrial crops byproducts for high value new products. The research should be of interest to an international audience, hypothesis driven, and repeatable. Crops and products of interest include plant fiber, forest, energy crops, industrial oilseeds, rubber and resins, and cultivated medicinal and aromatic plants. The plant(s) in the manuscript must fit our definition of industrial crops, before it is classified further in research topics as indicated below. The scope described below applies from July 2026 onwards. Manuscripts that align closely with the revised scope will be given priority consideration.

Research on food, phytochemistry, ethnobotany, pathology, and medicine are not in the scope of the journal. Authors should make clear in the cover letter how the research fits our scope following the detailed scope description below.

The following are examples of research that fits within the scope of the journal:

• Industrial crop management practices to increase productivity and specific chemical components and harvesting. Including cultural practices (sowing, plant density, fertilization, pruning, shading, management of wild stands for sustainable harvest, pests and weed management, post-harvest, and novel and improved processes for harvesting and storing industrial crops).

• Breeding and genetics of cultivated industrial crops. The research must be of international interest and hypothesis driven. The research must be of value to other breeders and the germplasm developed must be available to other researchers for further genetic improvement. Studies focused on general genetics are outside the scope of this journal.

• Response of cultivated industrial crops to abiotic (temperature, water, salinity, pH, heavy metals, etc.) and biotic stress (insects, diseases, weeds).

• Sustainable cropping systems, including an industrial crop to reduce negative environmental impacts of conventional cropping systems. For example, cultivation on marginal lands, intercropping, double or relay cropping, cover cropping or other systems intended to minimize soil erosion, eutrophication, greenhouse gases emissions, loss of biodiversity, etc.

• New techniques for the propagation of industrial crops (non-food and feed) or production of metabolites in vitro (root and tissue culture, micropropagation).

• Discovery or development of new industrial crops is in the scope but must include an evaluation of the real potential to make a plant an industrial crop, not just information on plants gathered in natural habitats (many plants make products, but they will not become an industrial crop). Economic analysis may be included as appropriate.

• Extraction methods of metabolites from industrial crops and waste streams of industrial crops processing (non-food related).

• Biochemical and thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass.

• Bio-based materials:
  - Plant fiber and fiber compounds: cellulose-, hemicelluloses-and lignin-based products, textiles, nanofibers, composites, films, etc.
  - Other crop-polysaccharides-based materials such as carbohydrates and proteins-based products not intended for food but for industry applications (adhesives, varnishes, paints, etc.)
  - Rubber, waxes, resins, gums from crops
  - Polymers and their derivatives from crops

• Crop and forestry biorefinery and carbonization:
  - Energy crops: Fuel (bioethanol, biogas, syngas), solid biofuels (pellets and briquettes), biochar, biochemicals, and secondary outputs etc.
  - Oils, fatty acids, biofuels (biodiesel, jet fuel, drop-in fuels), and biochemicals derived from oil-seed industrial crops
  - Articles related to carbonization, biomass-derived electrodes, supercapacitors for energy, etc., that do not involve novel or new technology approaches, will not be considered.

• Biologically active compounds:
  - Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pharmaceuticals (the species has to fit our definition of industrial crop; cultivated plants or plants with demonstrated potential to be cultivated with non-food purposes). Potential bioactive compounds from industrial crops with significant, impactful, sustainable products will be considered. Essential oils: inks, dyes, lubricants, perfumes, cosmetics, plastics, and other industrial applications

• Bio-based products must be tied to specific crops/plants, and their modification to meet new industrial uses. For instance, for nanoparticles, a direct link is required with an industrial crop or with the respective value-chain.

Research not in the scope of the journal (July 2026 onwards):