Plant dietary lipids remain one of the most intriguing and complex classes of biological molecules. Among them, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) have garnered recognition for their unique physico-chemical properties and potential health benefits. Despite their classification as saturated fats, they stand apart from other saturated fatty acids due to their distinctive characteristics, positioning them as a valuable component in nutrition. While traditional dietary fats primarily contain long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), MCTs consist of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), naturally found in coconut and palm oils. The structural dissimilarity grants MCTs advantageous attributes, encompassing rapid digestion and absorption, providing a swift source of energy. Importantly, MCT oil derived from coconuts surpasses traditional coconut oil in efficiency and speed of energy conversion due to its higher concentration of readily metabolizable MCTs, making it a superior choice in human nutrition. This comprehensive study delves deeply into the potential of coconut-derived MCT oil, illuminating its chemical constituents, production from coconut oil, distinctive physical and chemical properties, and metabolic characteristics. Additionally, it highlights a range of potential biological activities of the oil, including its efficacy in managing gastrointestinal disorders and promising roles in anticancer, neuroprotective, and antimicrobial effects. The report also discusses the extensive applications of MCT oil across diverse industrial and technological sectors, as well as its utilization in structured lipids, oleogels, and as a carrier for capsaicin. Addressing safety concerns and providing dosage guidelines, this paper emphasizes MCT oil as an alternative to coconut oil in various applications, offering a holistic perspective on its benefits.

The rising demand for novel and alternative protein (AP) sources has transformed both the marketplace and the food industry. This solid trend is driven by social awareness about environmental sustainability, fair food production practices, affordability, and pursuit of high-quality nutritional sources. This short review provides an overview of key aspects of promising AP sources (plants, algae, insects, fungi and cultured protein) as well as the economic potential, prospects, and operational challenges of this market. The low environmental performance of livestock production, associated with high GHG emissions and land use, can be overcome by less resource-intensive AP production. However, despite the forecasted expansion and improved economic viability, key challenges such as regulatory concerns, consumer acceptance and product functionality still need to be addressed. While the consumption and production of plant-based products are relatively well established, research and development efforts are needed to remediate the main commercialization and manufacturing issues of unprecedented protein sources such as cultured protein and the emerging edible insects sector.

Environmental issues related to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions have pushed the development of new technologies that will allow the economic production of low-carbon energy vectors, such as hydrogen (H₂), methane (CH₄) and liquid fuels. Dry reforming of methane (DRM) has gained increased attention since it uses CH₄ and carbon dioxide (CO₂), which are two main greenhouse gases (GHG), as feedstock for the production of syngas, which is a mixture of H₂ and carbon monoxide (CO) and can be used as a building block for the production of fuels. Since H₂ has been identified as a key enabler of the energy transition, a lot of studies have aimed to benefit from the environmental advantages of DRM and to use it as a pathway for a sustainable H₂ production. However, there are several challenges related to this process and to its use for H₂ production, such as catalyst deactivation and the low H₂/CO ratio of the syngas produced, which is usually below 1.0. This paper presents the recent advances in the catalyst development for H₂ production via DRM, the processes that could be combined with DRM to overcome these challenges and the current industrial processes using DRM. The objective is to assess in which conditions DRM could be used for H₂ production and the gaps in literature data preventing better evaluation of the environmental and economic potential of this process.