Medicinal, Aromatic, and Edible Plants: The Link between Pharmacy, Food, and Nutrition
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 51268
Special Issue Editors
Interests: natural bioactive compounds; medicinal chemistry; bioactivity and toxicology; functional applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: aromatic plants and vegetable cultivation; development of strategies for plant nutrition and response to abiotic stress; soil-less culture, substrates and hydroponics; postharvest storage and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants; essential oil analysis and biocidal activity; evaluation of natural products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant-derived secondary metabolites; antimicrobials; antioxidants; enzyme inhibition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: horticulture; vegetable science; aromatic/medicinal plants; greenhouse crops and hydroponics; substrate/growing media evaluation; soil; fresh produce preservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
The rapid explosion of the human population and several changes in their life style reflect the epidemic increase of chronic diseases and associated pathological complications. As such, health has become the forefront of scientific research for finding novel foods and strategies to tackle such a public health burden. Food is not only intended to satisfy hunger and provide essential macro- and micronutrients for the body, but it can also supply bioactive ingredients that aid to decrease nutrition-related diseases and ensure physical and mental wellbeing.
Plants are an integral part of all living organisms of the earth, and medicinal plants are widely distributed worldwide. Since immemorial time, humans from all the cultures worldwide have independently selected plants as a food. Moreover, as a consequence of the intensification of the agricultural practices, several wild edible plants have been gradually excluded from daily diets, depriving the human body from a more diverse panel of plant phytochemicals. Furthermore, the widespread traditional uses of natural herbs and medicinal plants in curing and preventing diseases (nature’s pharmacy) are very well described in ancient texts. Different medicinal, aromatic, and edible plants are known to present antibiotic, antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hyperlipidemic properties, among others and several herbal derived products or dietary supplements are market-available today, being advertised for their health claims.
Contributions to this Special Issue may cover all research aspects related to medicinal, aromatic, and edible plants linking the gap between the triangle of pharmacy, food, and nutrition; characterization of biocidal activity and plant biocidal capacity, including (but not limited to) methods for their extraction, purification, comprehensive profiling characterization, and quantification; the elucidation of their mechanisms of action with focus on antiproperties (antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic, etc.); and improved methods for assessing bioactive components and their bioaccessibility. The recent advances in analytical approaches, -omic sciences, and biotechnology which are offering new and interesting insights into their characterization are also covered.
Keywords
- Natural products
- Phytochemicals
- Functional foods
- Nutraceuticals
- Antioxidant activity
- Unexplored edible plants
- Added-value products
- Plant byproducts
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