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Foods
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Characterization and Valuation of Bioactive Plant Compounds: Research Update
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Characterization and Valuation of Bioactive Plant Compounds: Research Update

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 11098

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yingjian Lu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: functional foods; bioactive compounds; health-beneficial properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant-based foods are complex materials, which contain nutrient substances as well as functional/bioactive compounds, for instance, flavones, pigments, polyphenols, polysaccharides, oligosaccharides, antioxidants, enzymes, etc. Foods can produce tons of bioactive compounds during digestion, and all these functional/bioactive compounds play critical roles in human health and even some diseases. Therefore, efficient discovery of such functional/bioactive compounds is significant, especially high-throughput discovery or screening. Because of the rapid development of information science and technology and omics (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, flavour omics, etc.), there is increased use of high-throughput techniques and virtual prediction technology, which greatly promotes the efficient discovery and innovation of functional/bioactive compounds in foods. In addition, examinations of the health effects of these bioactive compounds in plant-based food are active areas of scientific inquiry. There are exciting prospects that some bioactive compounds will reduce the risk of many diseases, including chronic diseases, cancers, etc.

Thus, the present Special Issue will focus on research updates in the characterization and valuation of bioactive plant compounds in terms of new techniques for the screening, prediction and design of functional/bioactive compounds in plant-based foods using high-throughput methods, as well as the establishment of novel techniques in the methodologies of bioactivity in vitro or in vivo, and even the illustration of molecular mechanisms to increase our understanding of the biology of bioactive compounds. This Special Issue will provide the scientific basis for future efforts to use biotechnology to modify or fortify plant-based foods and their components as a means to improve public health.

Prof. Dr. Yingjian Lu
Guest Editor

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. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioactive plant compounds 
  • nutraceutical 
  • omics in plant-based foods 
  • fruits and vegetables 
  • whole grain 
  • health-beneficial properties 
  • fermentation/probiotics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 7301 KiB  
Article
Broccoli Improves Lipid Metabolism and Intestinal Flora in Mice with Type 2 Diabetes Induced by HFD and STZ Diet
by Xin Li, Zifan Cai, Feiyu Yang, Yunfan Wang, Xinyi Pang, Jing Sun, Xiangfei Li and Yingjian Lu
Foods 2024, 13(2), 273; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13020273 - 15 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 7603
Abstract
Globally, type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is on the rise. Maintaining a healthy diet is crucial for both treating and preventing T2DM.As a common vegetable in daily diet, broccoli has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticarcoma physiological activities. We developed a mouse model of type 2 [...] Read more.
Globally, type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is on the rise. Maintaining a healthy diet is crucial for both treating and preventing T2DM.As a common vegetable in daily diet, broccoli has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticarcoma physiological activities. We developed a mouse model of type 2 diabetes and carried out a systematic investigation to clarify the function of broccoli in reducing T2DM symptoms and controlling intestinal flora. The findings demonstrated that broccoli could successfully lower fasting blood glucose (FBG), lessen insulin resistance, regulate lipid metabolism, lower the levels of TC, TG, LDL-C, and MDA, stop the expression of IL-1β and IL-6, and decrease the harm that diabetes causes to the pancreas, liver, fat, and other organs and tissues. Furthermore, broccoli altered the intestinal flora’s makeup in mice with T2DM. At the genus level, the relative abundance of Allobaculum decreased, and that of Odoribacter and Oscillospira increased; At the family level, the relative abundances of Odoribacteraceae, Rikenellaceae and S24-7 decreased, while the relative abundances of Erysipelotrichaceae and Rikenellaceae increased. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Valuation of Bioactive Plant Compounds: Research Update)
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17 pages, 3150 KiB  
Article
Thermal Stability Enhancement of L-Asparaginase from Corynebacterium glutamicum Based on a Semi-Rational Design and Its Effect on Acrylamide Mitigation Capacity in Biscuits
by Huibing Chi, Qingwei Jiang, Yiqian Feng, Guizheng Zhang, Yilian Wang, Ping Zhu, Zhaoxin Lu and Fengxia Lu
Foods 2023, 12(23), 4364; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12234364 - 3 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1562
Abstract
Acrylamide is present in thermally processed foods, and it possesses toxic and carcinogenic properties. L-asparaginases could effectively regulate the formation of acrylamide at the source. However, current L-asparaginases have drawbacks such as poor thermal stability, low catalytic activity, and poor substrate specificity, thereby [...] Read more.
Acrylamide is present in thermally processed foods, and it possesses toxic and carcinogenic properties. L-asparaginases could effectively regulate the formation of acrylamide at the source. However, current L-asparaginases have drawbacks such as poor thermal stability, low catalytic activity, and poor substrate specificity, thereby restricting their utility in the food industry. To address this issue, this study employed consensus design to predict the crucial residues influencing the thermal stability of Corynebacterium glutamicum L-asparaginase (CgASNase). Subsequently, a combination of site-point saturating mutation and combinatorial mutation techniques was applied to generate the double-mutant enzyme L42T/S213N. Remarkably, L42T/S213N displayed significantly enhanced thermal stability without a substantial impact on its enzymatic activity. Notably, its half-life at 40 °C reached an impressive 13.29 ± 0.91 min, surpassing that of CgASNase (3.24 ± 0.23 min). Moreover, the enhanced thermal stability of L42T/S213N can be attributed to an increased positive surface charge and a more symmetrical positive potential, as revealed by three-dimensional structural simulations and structure comparison analyses. To assess the impact of L42T/S213N on acrylamide removal in biscuits, the optimal treatment conditions for acrylamide removal were determined through a combination of one-way and orthogonal tests, with an enzyme dosage of 300 IU/kg flour, an enzyme reaction temperature of 40 °C, and an enzyme reaction time of 30 min. Under these conditions, compared to the control (464.74 ± 6.68 µg/kg), the acrylamide reduction in double-mutant-enzyme-treated biscuits was 85.31%, while the reduction in wild-type-treated biscuits was 68.78%. These results suggest that L42T/S213N is a promising candidate for industrial applications of L-asparaginase. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Valuation of Bioactive Plant Compounds: Research Update)
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Review

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24 pages, 990 KiB  
Review
Arazá: Eugenia stipitata Mc Vaught as a Potential Functional Food
by Luis Acosta-Vega, Diego A. Moreno and Liceth N. Cuéllar Álvarez
Foods 2024, 13(15), 2310; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13152310 - 23 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1553
Abstract
Arazá is a fruit native to the Amazonian region with characteristic properties such as aroma, texture, color, and marked acidity. Additionally, the fruit is rich in bioactive compounds in its three fractions (seed, pulp, and peel), such as ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds (and [...] Read more.
Arazá is a fruit native to the Amazonian region with characteristic properties such as aroma, texture, color, and marked acidity. Additionally, the fruit is rich in bioactive compounds in its three fractions (seed, pulp, and peel), such as ascorbic acid, phenolic compounds (and their derivatives), and carotenoids, which have been extensively investigated in the literature for their beneficial properties for human health. However, it is a little-known fruit, and the role it can play in health-promoting activities related to the treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) when incorporated into the diet is also unknown. Therefore, it is necessary to know the profile of bioactive compounds and the biological properties Arazá possesses, which is the aim of this review. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Valuation of Bioactive Plant Compounds: Research Update)
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