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Horticulturae
Special Issues
Characterization of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Medicinal Plants
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Characterization of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Medicinal Plants

A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinals, Herbs, and Specialty Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2025 | Viewed by 1148

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Pablo Luis B. Figueiredo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratório de Química de Produtos Naturais, Universidade do Estado do Pará, Belém 66095-015, PA, Brazil
Interests: volaliles; essential oil; in vivo studies; pharmacology; pain; inflammation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Antioxidants are commonly used to inhibit, prevent, or delay deterioration due to oxidation. They can act to reduce free radicals as a primary antioxidant or through a mechanism that does not directly reduce free radicals, such as a secondary antioxidant.

Due to the current trend of increasing consumer demand for natural products created by growing concerns about health, it is necessary to study the use of condiments and aromatic herbs as natural antioxidants to replace the widely used conventional BHA and BHT.

Free radicals, i.e., tiny molecules with unpaired free electrons, are mainly produced during physiological metabolism and pathological processes. They perform essential biological functions, such as defense against aggression, metabolism, energy production, fertilization, and gene activation.

Therefore, considering the importance and antioxidant properties, this particular issue, titled "Characterization of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Medicinal Plants," aims to present studies that report the chemical characterization of botanical species and their antioxidative potential and isolation of molecules with antioxidant properties.

Dr. Pablo Luis B. Figueiredo
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. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2200 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

  • plant extracts
  • essential oils
  • in vitro methods
  • antiradical activity
  • phenolic compounds
  • natural antioxidants

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3024 KiB  
Article
Chemical Analysis and Biological Potential of Cotton Lavender Ethanolic Extract (Santolina chamaecyparissus L., Asteraceae)
by Katarina Radovanović, Dajana Vukić, Nebojša Kladar, Maja Hitl, Neda Gavarić and Milica Aćimović
Horticulturae 2024, 10(12), 1247; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10121247 - 25 Nov 2024
Viewed by 295
Abstract
Cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparissus L., Asteraceae) is a widespread medicinal and ornamental plant. This study aimed to evaluate the preliminary and detailed chemical composition as well as the biological activity of ethanolic extract. As part of the preliminary characterization, the content of [...] Read more.
Cotton lavender (Santolina chamaecyparissus L., Asteraceae) is a widespread medicinal and ornamental plant. This study aimed to evaluate the preliminary and detailed chemical composition as well as the biological activity of ethanolic extract. As part of the preliminary characterization, the content of total phenolics and flavonoids was determined, while the detailed characterization was performed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Antioxidant activity was evaluated through four different tests: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl (OH•), and nitroso (NO•) radicals, and lipid peroxidation (LP), as well as antihyperglycemic potential through the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays. Additionally, in silico molecular modeling was employed to link the chemical composition to the antihyperglycemic potential. Chemical characterization showed that cotton lavender is a valuable source of phenolic compounds, with ferulic and p-coumaric acids being the most abundant. Moreover, the antihyperglycemic and antioxidant potential of the ethanolic extract was demonstrated in vitro. The potential mechanism of the antihyperglycemic effect is the inhibition of the enzyme α-glucosidase, which was further investigated in silico using molecular modeling methods. This analysis suggested rutin and quercetin as compounds responsible for anti-α-glucosidase activity. Cotton lavender ethanolic extracts, as a valuable source of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, possess moderate antioxidant effects and notable antihyperglycemic activity. According to in vitro and in silico investigations, it could be a valuable herbal supplement to complement diabetes treatment in medicinal therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Medicinal Plants)
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13 pages, 9556 KiB  
Article
Seasonality’s Effects on the Chemical Composition and Antiradical Capacity of the Floral Essential Oil of Acmella oleracea (L.) R.K. Jansen Cultivated in the Brazilian Amazon
by Lucas Botelho Jerônimo, José Augusto C. de Araújo, Joyce Kelly R. da Silva, Rosa Helena V. Mourão, William N. Setzer and Pablo Luis B. Figueiredo
Horticulturae 2024, 10(9), 925; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae10090925 - 29 Aug 2024
Viewed by 588
Abstract
For the first time, this work reports the seasonal influence on the chemical composition and antiradical capacity of Acmella oleracea floral essential oil, produced from a perennial herb of great nutritional and pharmacological importance in the Amazon region. The species was cultivated and [...] Read more.
For the first time, this work reports the seasonal influence on the chemical composition and antiradical capacity of Acmella oleracea floral essential oil, produced from a perennial herb of great nutritional and pharmacological importance in the Amazon region. The species was cultivated and the plantation was monitored from May to September 2022 between the rainy and dry seasons. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation, analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer, and subjected to the free radical inhibition assay using the DPPH method. The highest oil yield (1.61%) occurred in May (rainy season), and the lowest (0.68%) occurred in September (dry season). Despite the difference in the oil yield between the rainy and dry seasons, no significant correlation with weather conditions (p > 0.05) occurred. During the collection period, the class of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons was predominant (16.35–46.01%). The main constituents of A. oleracea were E-caryophyllene (13.57–25.74%), caryophyllene oxide (0.88–31.72%), 1-pentadecene (5.42–16.58%), germacrene D (0.14–15.17%), and myrcene (1.08–11.99%), and a low concentration of its main bioactive spilanthol (0.66–5.2%) was also observed. The antiradical capacity was considered low, with inhibition of 7.96 to 7.53% of free radicals and a Trolox equivalence of 68.4 to 64.7 mg·ET/g. Although there were some changes in the levels of chemical components in A. oleracea essential oils, the species can be considered an alternative source of pharmacologically active compounds such as E-caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide, in addition to presenting amounts of other bioactive molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Activity of Medicinal Plants)
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