Germán Ayala Valencia received his Ph.D. in food engineering in 2017 from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Dr. Valencia is a professor at the Department of Chemical and Food Engineering in the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil. Prof. Valencia was the guest editor of two special issues published by Starch - Stärke (11–12/2021 and 1–2/2024). Nowadays, Prof. Valencia is a Board Member of the Journal of Packaging Technology and Science and editor of the books Natural Additives in Foods and Starch Nanomaterials and Food Applications, both published by Springer Nature. Prof. Valencia mainly works in the food science and technology area with an emphasis on natural polymers, food packaging, natural pigments, nanotechnology, agro-industrial waste, and stabilization of bioactive compounds.