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Omics Perspective to Unravel the Functionalities and Biological Traits of Plant-Based Foods and By-Products

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A topical collection in International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This collection belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

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Editors

Dr. Sonia Medina

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Collection Editor

Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Interests: Plant-based foods; Bioactive compounds; Functionality; Analytical methods; LC-MS; Metabolomics
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Dr. Raúl Domínguez-Perles

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Collection Editor

Research Group on Quality, Safety, and Bioactivity of Plant Foods, Department of Food Science and Technology, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura, Spanish National Research Council (CEBAS-CSIC), University Campus of Espinardo, Edif. 25, 30100 Murcia, Spain
Interests: lipidomics; plant oxylipins; bioaccessibility; bioavailability; bioactivity; structure-activity relationship (SAR); in vitro models of biological activity; inflammation; oxidative stress; immune system
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

As an important contribution to the sustainability of the agro-food system, research in the field should be adapted to the circular economy policies. To take advantage of the bioactive compounds of foods it is essential to decipher how phytochemicals in plant-based foods and their by-products fit into circular economy workflows to obtain newly added value coproducts. This information will contribute to design interest in recycling, reusing, and reducing these pollutant materials allowing rethinking the food chemistry and biological traits.

In this frame, it is important to stress that plant-derived bioactive compounds are key to human nutrition and health, since they affect genome expression and signaling pathways, acting on protein level, structure, and function. In this context, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics are important elements of complete omics analyses, which jointly with classic techniques based on cell and molecular biology, would allow enhancing the scope of current research on the biological effect of food components on cellular processes and mechanisms, as well as the definition of targets for bioactive compounds and biomarkers linking health.

Nowadays, the recent advancement in the integrated omics approach is practiced comprehensively, in a complementary form to classic experimental approaches, to understand food functionality and connection to human health and wellbeing. This topical collection aims at achieving a compilation of reviews and research articles that provide light on the novel bioactive components of plant-based foods and by-products, and the assessment by omics approaches of biological functions with special attention to those enclosed to health care.

Dr. Sonia Medina
Dr. Raúl Domínguez-Perles
Collection Editors

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Keywords

bioactive compounds
functionality
plant based-foods
by-products
omics
health
in vitro and in vivo models

Published Papers (2 papers)

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2024

16 pages, 1509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using Targeted Metabolomics to Unravel Phenolic Metabolites of Plant Origin in Animal Milk

by Vicente Agulló, Claudia Favari, Niccolò Pilla, Letizia Bresciani, Francisco A. Tomás-Barberán, Alan Crozier, Daniele Del Rio and Pedro Mena

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(8), 4536; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25084536 - 20 Apr 2024

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Abstract

Milk holds a high nutritional value and is associated with diverse health benefits. The understanding of its composition of (poly)phenolic metabolites is limited, which necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of the subject. This study aimed at analyzing the (poly)phenolic profile of commercial milk samples from cows and goats and investigating their sterilization treatments, fat content, and lactose content. Fingerprinting of phenolic metabolites was achieved by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). Two hundred and three potential microbial and phase II metabolites of the main dietary (poly)phenols were targeted. Twenty-five metabolites were identified, revealing a diverse array of phenolic metabolites in milk, including isoflavones and their microbial catabolites equol and O-desmethylangolensin, phenyl-γ-valerolactones (flavan-3-ol microbial catabolites), enterolignans, urolithins (ellagitannin microbial catabolites), benzene diols, and hippuric acid derivates. Goat’s milk contained higher concentrations of these metabolites than cow’s milk, while the sterilization process and milk composition (fat and lactose content) had minimal impact on the metabolite profiles. Thus, the consumption of goat’s milk might serve as a potential means to supplement bioactive phenolic metabolites, especially in individuals with limited production capacity. However, further research is needed to elucidate the potential health effects of milk-derived phenolics. Full article

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17 pages, 1652 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bioaccessible Organosulfur Compounds in Broccoli Stalks Modulate the Inflammatory Mediators Involved in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

by Antonio Costa-Pérez, Paola Sánchez-Bravo, Sonia Medina, Raúl Domínguez-Perles and Cristina García-Viguera

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(2), 800; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25020800 - 8 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1878

Abstract

Inflammatory diseases are strongly associated with global morbidity and mortality. Several mediators are involved in this process, including proinflammatory interleukins and cytokines produced by damaged tissues that, somehow, act as initiators of the autoreactive immune response. Bioactive compounds present in plant-based foods and byproducts have been largely considered active agents with the potential to treat or prevent inflammatory diseases, being a valuable alternative to traditional therapeutic agents used nowadays, which present several side effects. In this regard, the present research uncovers the anti-inflammatory activity of the bioaccessible fraction of broccoli stalks processed, by applying different conditions that render specific concentrations of bioactive sulforaphane (SFN). The raw materials’ extracts exhibited significantly different contents of total glucosinolates (GSLs) that ranged between 3993.29 and 12,296.48 mg/kg dry weight (dw), with glucoraphanin as the most abundant one, followed by GI and GE. The indolic GSLs were represented by hydroxy-glucobrassicin, glucobrassicin, methoxy-glucobrassicin, and neo-glucobrassicin, with the two latter as the most abundant. Additionally, SFN and indole-3-carbinol were found in lower concentrations than the corresponding GSL precursors in the raw materials. When exploring the bioaccessibility of these organosulfur compounds, the GSL of all matrices remained at levels lower than the limit of detection, while SFN was the only breakdown product that remained stable and at quantifiable concentrations. The highest concentration of bioaccessible SFN was provided by the high-ITC materials (~4.00 mg/kg dw). The results retrieved on the cytotoxicity of the referred extracts evidenced that the range of supplementation of growth media tested (0.002–430.400 µg of organosulfur compounds/mL) did not display cytotoxic effects on Caco-2 cells. The obtained extracts were assessed based on their capacity to reduce the production of key proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, and TNF-α) by the intestinal epithelium. Most of the tested processing conditions provided plant material with significant anti-inflammatory activity and the absence of cytotoxic effects. These data confirm that SFN from broccoli stalks, processed to optimize the bioaccessible concentration of SFN, may be potential therapeutic leads to treat or prevent human intestinal inflammation. Full article

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Omics Perspective to Unravel the Functionalities and Biological Traits of Plant-Based Foods and By-Products

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Published Papers (2 papers)

2024

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