Novel Applications of Chemical Imaging, an Outstanding Technology

Over the past few years, chemical imaging technologies have experienced a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of applications. This is mainly due to the ability of such technologies to provide the spatial distribution of the various components of a sample. The spatial distribution of a specific chemical component in a given sample constitutes a precious piece of information. This is the base of several applications in different areas such as plant physiology, food safety, biomedical diagnosis, forensic analysis, pharmaceutical monitoring, cell analysis, and defense, among many others. Thus, this BrJAC special edition entitled “Chemical Imaging” intends to provide an overview of these new technologies and their use in the most diverse areas of knowledge. All the works presented in this special issue were carried out by research groups based in laboratories of universities in South America. Despite the enormous difficulties facing the development of science in the region, the manuscripts published in this special issue put in evidence the excellent quality of the science produced once they are at the frontier of knowledge.