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Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants, Plant-Based Foods and Functional Foods:...
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Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants, Plant-Based Foods and Functional Foods: Advances and Opportunities

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 7337

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Ryszard Amarowicz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, 10-748 Olsztyn, Poland
Interests: analytical chemistry; polymer chemistry; food science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Manoj Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chemical and Biochemical Processing Division, ICAR – Central Institute for Research on Cotton Technology, Mumbai 400019, India
Interests: fruits; diversity; traditional uses; ethnoveterinary; medicinal plants; characterization of phytochemicals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are the source of a vast variety of bioactive compounds, and numerous investigations into medicinal and other plants have demonstrated their role in various health benefits, such as through anticancer, antidiabetic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective and other effects. Being natural in origin and non-toxic in chemical profile, plant extracts have the status of “Generally Recognized As Safe”. Bioactive compounds and other biologically active components (such as bioactive peptides) from fruits, vegetables, medicinal plants, grains and their by-products have been researched widely to formulate plant-based functional foods. Vast research has been carried out in the field of functional foods, but there is still huge potential for the development of functional foods considering the vast variety of edible plants available on our planet. According to recent statistics, the global functional food market was estimated to be around USD 178 billion and is expected to reach USD 268 billion in 2027. Therefore, time is needed to further explore this field to develop innovative functional foods of plant origin. This Special Issue invites contributions from researchers working in the area of natural products from medicinal and other plant species, the isolation of bioactive compounds and their health benefits, the use of plant-originated components for the development of functional foods, and other areas.  

Prof. Dr. Ryszard Amarowicz
Dr. Manoj Kumar
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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • phytochemicals
  • biological activities
  • medicinal plants
  • plant-based proteins/peptides
  • plant-based functional foods
  • probiotics
  • isolation of bioactives
  • functional characterization
  • health benefits
  • valorization
  • non-conventional edible plants
  • wild edible plants

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 10696 KiB  
Article
Hepatoprotective Effect of Medicine Food Homology Flower Saffron against CCl4-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Mice via the Akt/HIF-1α/VEGF Signaling Pathway
by Huajuan Jiang, Xulong Huang, Jiaxin Wang, Yongfeng Zhou, Chaoxiang Ren, Tao Zhou and Jin Pei
Molecules 2023, 28(21), 7238; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28217238 - 24 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2404
Abstract
Liver fibrosis refers to a complex inflammatory response caused by multiple factors, which is a known cause of liver cirrhosis and even liver cancer. As a valuable medicine food homology herb, saffron has been widely used in the world. Saffron is commonly used [...] Read more.
Liver fibrosis refers to a complex inflammatory response caused by multiple factors, which is a known cause of liver cirrhosis and even liver cancer. As a valuable medicine food homology herb, saffron has been widely used in the world. Saffron is commonly used in liver-related diseases and has rich therapeutic and health benefits. The therapeutic effect is satisfactory, but its mechanism is still unclear. In order to clarify these problems, we planned to determine the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of saffron extract in preventing and treating liver fibrosis through network pharmacology analysis combined with in vivo validation experiments. Through UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS analysis, a total of fifty-six nutrients and active ingredients were identified, and nine of them were screened to predict their therapeutic targets for liver fibrosis. Then, network pharmacology analysis was applied to identify 321 targets for saffron extract to alleviate liver fibrosis. Functional and pathway enrichment analysis showed that the putative targets of saffron for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis are mainly involved in the calcium signaling pathway, the HIF-1 signaling pathway, endocrine resistance, the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, lipid and atherosclerosis, and the cAMP signaling pathway. Based on the CCl4-induced liver fibrosis mice model, we experimentally confirmed that saffron extract can alleviate the severity and pathological changes during the progression of liver fibrosis. RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis confirmed that saffron treatment can prevent the CCl4-induced upregulation of HIF-1α, VEGFA, AKT, and PI3K, suggesting that saffron may regulate AKT/HIF-1α/VEGF and alleviate liver fibrosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants, Plant-Based Foods and Functional Foods: Advances and Opportunities)
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20 pages, 3235 KiB  
Article
Zein as an Effective Carrier for Hesperidin Delivery Systems with Improved Prebiotic Potential
by Szymon Sip, Anna Sip, Andrzej Miklaszewski, Marcin Żarowski and Judyta Cielecka-Piontek
Molecules 2023, 28(13), 5209; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28135209 - 4 Jul 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1833
Abstract
Hesperidin is a polyphenol derived from citrus fruits that has a broad potential for biological activity and the ability to positively modify the intestinal microbiome. However, its activity is limited by its low solubility and, thus, its bioavailability—this research aimed to develop a [...] Read more.
Hesperidin is a polyphenol derived from citrus fruits that has a broad potential for biological activity and the ability to positively modify the intestinal microbiome. However, its activity is limited by its low solubility and, thus, its bioavailability—this research aimed to develop a zein-based hesperidin system with increased solubility and a sustained release profile. The study used triple systems enriched with solubilizers to maximize solubility. The best system was the triple system hesperidin-zein-Hpβ-CD, for which the solubility improved by more than six times. A significant improvement in the antioxidant activity and the ability to inhibit α-glucosidase was also demonstrated, due to an improved solubility. A release profile analysis was performed in the subsequent part of the experiments, confirming the sustained release profile of hesperidin, while improving the solubility. Moreover, the ability of selected probiotic bacteria to metabolize hesperidin and the effect of this flavonoid compound on their growth were investigated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants, Plant-Based Foods and Functional Foods: Advances and Opportunities)
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19 pages, 1227 KiB  
Article
Unconventional Extraction of Total Non-Polar Carotenoids from Pumpkin Pulp and Their Nanoencapsulation
by Nicola Pinna, Federica Ianni, Francesca Blasi, Arianna Stefani, Michela Codini, Stefano Sabatini, Aurélie Schoubben and Lina Cossignani
Molecules 2022, 27(23), 8240; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27238240 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2217
Abstract
Pumpkin is considered a functional food with beneficial effects on human health due to the presence of interesting bioactives. In this research, the impact of unconventional ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction techniques on the recovery of total non-polar carotenoids from Cucurbita moschata [...] Read more.
Pumpkin is considered a functional food with beneficial effects on human health due to the presence of interesting bioactives. In this research, the impact of unconventional ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction techniques on the recovery of total non-polar carotenoids from Cucurbita moschata pulp was investigated. A binary (hexane:isopropanol, 60:40 v/v) and a ternary (hexane:acetone:ethanol, 50:25:25 v/v/v) mixture were tested. The extracts were characterized for their antioxidant properties by in vitro assays, while the carotenoid profiling was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector. UAE with the binary mixture (30 min, 45 °C) was the most successful extracting technique, taking into consideration all analytical data and their correlations. In parallel, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) were optimized for the encapsulation of the extract, using β-carotene as a reference compound. SLN, loaded with up to 1% β-carotene, had dimensions (~350 nm) compatible with increased intestinal absorption. Additionally, the ABTS ((2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assay showed that the technological process did not change the antioxidant capacity of β-carotene. These SLN will be used to load an even higher percentage of the extract without affecting their dimensions due to its liquid nature and higher miscibility with the lipid with respect to the solid β-carotene. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants, Plant-Based Foods and Functional Foods: Advances and Opportunities)
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