Advanced Research of Secondary Metabolites in Medicinal and Industrial Plants

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2025 | Viewed by 5020

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Food Technology and Assessment, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: antioxidant properties in foods; bioactive compounds in foods; honey; HPLC; LCMS

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Technology and Assessment, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: antioxidant properties in foods; bioactive compounds in foods; HPLC; LCMS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce a Special Issue entitled "Advanced Research of Secondary Metabolites in Medicinal and Industrial Plants". In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring the potential of secondary metabolites derived from plants for medicinal and industrial applications. This Special Issue aims to compile cutting-edge research in this field and provide a platform for sharing insights and discoveries.

The scope of this Special Issue encompasses a wide range of topics related to the advanced research of secondary metabolites in medicinal and industrial plants. We welcome submissions that cover, but are not limited to, the following areas:

  • Isolation and characterization: studies focusing on the isolation, purification, and structural elucidation of novel secondary metabolites from medicinal and industrial plants using advanced analytical techniques such as chromatography, spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.
  • Biological activities: investigations exploring the pharmacological activities of secondary metabolites, including their antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory properties.
  • Mechanistic insights: research elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the bioactivities of secondary metabolites, including their interactions with cellular targets, signal transduction pathways, and modulation of gene expression.
  • Biotechnological approaches: studies focusing on biotechnological approaches for the production, enhancement, and optimization of secondary metabolite biosynthesis in medicinal and industrial plants through tissue culture, genetic engineering, metabolic engineering, and elicitation strategies.
  • Applications in medicine and industry: investigations highlighting the therapeutic potentials of secondary metabolites for the treatment of various human diseases, as well as their applications in the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and agrochemical industries.

We encourage researchers from academia, research institutes, and industry to contribute their original research articles, reviews, and perspectives to this Special Issue. By sharing your findings and insights, you will contribute to advancing our understanding of secondary metabolites in medicinal and industrial plants and pave the way for the development of innovative solutions with real-world applications.

Dr. Ewa Majewska
Dr. Beata Drużyńska
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • secondary metabolites
  • medicinal and industrial plants
  • bioactive compounds
  • metabolomics
  • plant extracts
  • therapeutic potential
  • instrumental techniques

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 1660 KiB  
Article
Comparative Evaluation of the Phytochemical Composition of Fruits of Ten Haskap Berry (Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica Sevast.) Cultivars Grown in Poland
by Natalia Żurek, Stanisław Pluta, Łukasz Seliga, Sabina Lachowicz-Wiśniewska and Ireneusz Tomasz Kapusta
Agriculture 2024, 14(10), 1734; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14101734 - 1 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1954
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the qualitative and quantitative fruit profiles of ten cultivars (cvs.) of haskap berry (Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica Sevast.) to determine their antioxidant activity (ABTS test, CUPRAC test, ability to capture superoxide (O2˙ [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to investigate the qualitative and quantitative fruit profiles of ten cultivars (cvs.) of haskap berry (Lonicera caerulea var. kamtschatica Sevast.) to determine their antioxidant activity (ABTS test, CUPRAC test, ability to capture superoxide (O2˙) and hydroxyl radicals (OH˙)), cytotoxic activity (against cancer cell lines breast, MCF-7; colon, HT-29; and melanoma, SK-Mel-28) and physicochemical properties. Most of the selected cultivars had not previously been analyzed for these properties. A total of 19 polyphenolic compounds were identified in the fruits of the tested genotypes, with a quantitative range of 2166.3–3597.0 µg/g. The polyphenol profile was dominated by anthocyanins (90.0–92.4%), and the remaining classes occurred in the following order: phenolic acids > flavonols > flavan-3-ols. The highest concentrations of these polyphenol groups were found in the cultivars ‘Honeybee’, ‘Sinij Uties’ and ‘Usłada’. The fruits of these cultivars were also characterized by the highest antioxidant activity (546.6–683.5 µg/mL for O2˙ and 541.2–652.1 µg/mL for OH˙) and cytotoxic activity (103.6–649.2 µg/mL). The data obtained indicate that the fruits of the new haskap cultivars are a good source of bioactive compounds with possible health-promoting properties. Full article
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Review

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24 pages, 2208 KiB  
Review
Effective Biotic Elicitors for Augmentation of Secondary Metabolite Production in Medicinal Plants
by Divya Jain, Shiwali Bisht, Anwar Parvez, Kuldeep Singh, Pranav Bhaskar and Georgios Koubouris
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 796; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060796 - 22 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2521
Abstract
Plants are an essential component of our daily diet, and their nutritional value has been thoroughly studied for many years. The ability of plants to adapt to changing environmental conditions through signaling systems is an essential component of their survival. Plants undergo an [...] Read more.
Plants are an essential component of our daily diet, and their nutritional value has been thoroughly studied for many years. The ability of plants to adapt to changing environmental conditions through signaling systems is an essential component of their survival. Plants undergo an array of physiological alterations to respond to stress from biotic sources. Secondary compounds frequently accumulate in crops that are sensitive to stress, particularly those with several eliciting agents or signaling molecules. Plants contain various types of bioactive compounds, including phytosterols, alkaloids, glycosides, and polyphenols, which make them valuable for the food and pharmaceutical industries. The increased production of secondary metabolites via elicitation has opened up a new field of study with the potential to provide substantial financial gains for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. These elicitors are pharmacological compounds that activate specific transcription factors and up-regulate genes to activate metabolic pathways. Thus, the current review discusses the mechanism of biotic elicitation and various elicitation techniques using biotic (proteins, carbohydrates, rhizobacteria, fungi, and hormones) elicitors that may increase the yield of secondary metabolites, particularly in medicinal plants, which is advantageous to the agrochemical and therapeutic industries. Full article
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