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Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction...
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Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2024) | Viewed by 6017

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Horacio Heinzen

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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Farmacognosia y Productos Naturales, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay
Interests: bioactive natural products; structure elucidation; separation science; mass spectroscopy; organic trace analysis of contaminants
Prof. Dr. Alvaro Vazquez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Farmacognosia y Productos Naturales, Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay
Interests: secondary metabolites from plants and microorganisms; antimicrobial natural products including antibiofilm compounds; natural products with CNS activity
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Dellacassa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Biotecnología de Aromas, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11800, Uruguay
Interests: secondary metabolism from plants and microorganisms (volatile and non-volatile: metabolomic analysis); chromatography; mass spectrometry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The world of medicinal and edible plants has expanded with the emergence of new knowledge, new technologies, and new approaches to this fundamental field of health science. Globalization has introduced new foods, new social habits, and innovative uses for well-known medicinal plants. The advice of Hippocrates, "Man is what he eats," now serves as a guiding principle for consuming healthy food, where bioactive natural products play a vital role. Consistently incorporating foods rich in healthy secondary metabolites is a significant step in preventing metabolic syndromes, including diabetes, hypertension, and inflammation—non-return pathways to non-transmissible diseases that silently affect both developed and transitioning countries. Furthermore, the principles of green chemistry and sustainability have compelled natural product chemists to explore new extraction protocols using environmentally friendly solvents, such as super-critical and high-pressure extractions, the versatility of deep eutectic solvents (DES), ultrasound, and microwave-assisted extractions, which have revealed new profiles of secondary metabolites in well-known plants. Metabolite profiling, in combination with bioinformatics and multivariate statistics, using a metabolomic approach, enables the identification of specific markers of activity within complex mixtures that can be characterized, traced, and quantified. The development of new and powerful instruments, such as high-resolution mass spectrometry, provides significant information on the composition of extracts that must be carefully classified and evaluated when searching for new bioactive compounds. However, it is invaluable for their discovery and for linking them to associated bioactivities. Simultaneously, clinical studies on the effects of medicinal plants are necessary to definitively support the traditional ethnobotanical observations of original populations.

This Special Issue on “Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation” welcomes your contributions on all these topics. We hope to make an impact and advance the knowledge in a field that is continuously being rediscovered, and thus provide solutions for a sustainable world.

Prof. Dr. Horacio Heinzen
Prof. Dr. Alvaro Vazquez
Prof. Dr. Eduardo Dellacassa
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. Plants 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

  • medicinal and edible plants
  • natural products
  • secondary metabolites
  • metabolite profiling
  • mass spectrometry
  • bioactivity

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 992 KiB  
Article
Bioactive Properties of Campomanesia lineatifolia: Correlation Between Anti-Helicobacter pylori Activity, Antioxidant Potential and Chemical Composition
by Nívea Cristina Vieira Neves, Morgana Pinheiro de Mello, Sinéad Marian Smith, Fabio Boylan, Marcelo Vidigal Caliari and Rachel Oliveira Castilho
Plants 2024, 13(22), 3117; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13223117 - 5 Nov 2024
Viewed by 598
Abstract
Helicobacter pylori is found in the stomach of patients with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers, infecting approximately half of the world’s population. Current treatment for H. pylori infection involves a multi-drug therapeutic regime with various adverse effects, which leads to treatment abandonment and [...] Read more.
Helicobacter pylori is found in the stomach of patients with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers, infecting approximately half of the world’s population. Current treatment for H. pylori infection involves a multi-drug therapeutic regime with various adverse effects, which leads to treatment abandonment and contributes to the emergence of resistant strains of H. pylori. Previously, we demonstrated that the essential oil of Campomanesia lineatifolia leaves exhibited an anti-H. pylori activity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the phenolic content of the phenolic-rich ethanol extract (PEE) from C. lineatifolia and its anti-H. pylori and antioxidant properties. Additionally, the anti-H. pylori activity was assessed in polar and non-polar fractions from PEE, isolated myricitrin (MYR) and a mixture of myricitrin and quercitrin (MYR/QUER) from polar fractions, and aqueous extract (tea) to correlate the responsible fractions or compounds with the observed activity. Broth microdilution assays were performed to assess the anti-H. pylori activity using type cultures (ATCC 49503, NCTC 11638, both clarithromycin-sensitive) and clinical isolate strains (SSR359, clarithromycin-sensitive, and SSR366, clarithromycin-resistant). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using the DPPH assay. The total tannin and flavonoid contents were determined using the hide-powder method, the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, and the aluminium chloride colourimetric assay, respectively. The tea (MIC 1:100), PEE, polar and non-polar fractions, MYR, and MYR/QUER inhibited the growth of H. pylori strains tested (MIC values ranging from 0.49 to 250 μg/mL). The antioxidant assays revealed that PEE exhibited a higher antioxidant activity (EC50 = 18.47 μg/mL), which correlated to the high phenolic content (tannin and flavonoid, 22.31 and 0.15% w/w, respectively). These findings support the traditional use of C. lineatifolia as a multitarget medicinal plant for treating gastric ulcers and reinforce the potential use of the species as a coadjuvant in therapeutic regimes involving patients with resistant H. pylori infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation)
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13 pages, 1938 KiB  
Article
Flavonoids, Phenolic Acids, and Tannin Quantities and Their Antioxidant Activity in Fermented Fireweed Leaves Grown in Different Systems
by Marius Lasinskas, Elvyra Jariene, Jurgita Kulaitiene, Nijole Vaitkeviciene, Ewelina Hallmann and Valdas Paulauskas
Plants 2024, 13(14), 1922; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13141922 - 12 Jul 2024
Viewed by 841
Abstract
The increasing demand for organic and biodynamically cultivated fireweeds worldwide has led to a paucity of studies on the effects of solid-phase fermentation and various growth techniques on the quantities of biologically active substances and their antioxidant activity. This experiment was carried out [...] Read more.
The increasing demand for organic and biodynamically cultivated fireweeds worldwide has led to a paucity of studies on the effects of solid-phase fermentation and various growth techniques on the quantities of biologically active substances and their antioxidant activity. This experiment was carried out in 2023 at the organic farm in the Jonava district (Safarkos village, Lithuania). The aim of this work was to investigate polyphenols (flavonoids and phenolic acids) and antioxidant activity in fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub) leaves fermented for 24 and 48 h in solid-phase fermentation and natural, organic, and biodynamic cultivation. Fireweeds have high quantities of polyphenols and strong antioxidant activity. The method employed for determining antioxidant activity was spectrophotometric, for measuring polyphenols, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to determine the relationships between the average content of total polyphenols and antioxidant activity in fermented fireweed leaves grown in different systems. This study’s findings demonstrated that the leaves of fireweed cultivated organically had the greatest concentration of total flavonoids, total phenolic acids, and total polyphenols. Comparing the fermentation process effect, the amount of predominant phenolic acids—chlorogenic, p-coumaric, and ellagic acids—as well as the content of oenothein B, during the fermentation process significantly decreased, but the concentration of quercetin-3-O-glucoside after a short time of the fermentation process significantly increased. According to the obtained results, it would be possible to create various health-giving and nature-friendly products from fireweeds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation)
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28 pages, 6705 KiB  
Article
Unravelling the Phytochemical Composition and Antioxidant Potential of Different Parts of Rumex vesicarius L.: A RP-HPLC-MS-MS/MS, Chemometrics, and Molecular Docking-Based Comparative Study
by Sherouk Hussein Sweilam, Mohamed S. Abd El Hafeez, Mahmoud A. Mansour and Reham Hassan Mekky
Plants 2024, 13(13), 1815; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13131815 - 1 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1198
Abstract
Rumex vesicarius L. Polygonaceae is a wildly grown plant in Egypt, North Africa, and Asia with wide traditional uses. Several studies reported its biological activities and richness in phytochemicals. This research addresses a comprehensive metabolic profiling of the flowers, leaves, stems, and roots [...] Read more.
Rumex vesicarius L. Polygonaceae is a wildly grown plant in Egypt, North Africa, and Asia with wide traditional uses. Several studies reported its biological activities and richness in phytochemicals. This research addresses a comprehensive metabolic profiling of the flowers, leaves, stems, and roots via RP-HPLC-QTOF-MS and MS/MS with chemometrics. A total of 60 metabolites were observed and grouped into phenolic acids, flavonoids, phenols, terpenes, amino acids, fatty acids, organic acids, and sugars. Principal component analysis and hierarchal cluster analysis showed the segregation of different parts. Moreover, the antioxidant capacity was determined via several methods and agreed with the previous results. Additionally, an in silico approach of molecular docking of the predominant bioactive metabolites was employed against two antioxidant targets, NADPH oxidase and human peroxiredoxin 5 enzyme (PDB ID: 2CDU and 1HD2) receptors, alongside ADME predictions. The molecular modelling revealed that most of the approached molecules were specifically binding with the tested enzymes, achieving high binding affinities. The results confirmed that R. vesicarius stems and roots are rich sources of bioactive antioxidant components. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive metabolic profiling of R. vesicarius giving a prospect of its relevance in the development of new naturally based antioxidants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation)
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Review

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34 pages, 751 KiB  
Review
Green Extraction of Plant Materials Using Supercritical CO2: Insights into Methods, Analysis, and Bioactivity
by Metin Yıldırım, Mehmet Erşatır, Samet Poyraz, Madina Amangeldinova, Nataliya O. Kudrina and Nina V. Terletskaya
Plants 2024, 13(16), 2295; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13162295 - 18 Aug 2024
Viewed by 2768
Abstract
In recent years, the supercritical CO2 extraction method has gained attention due to its use of environmentally friendly, non-toxic solvents, ability to operate at lower temperatures that do not cause the degradation of bioactive compounds, and capacity for rapid extraction. This method [...] Read more.
In recent years, the supercritical CO2 extraction method has gained attention due to its use of environmentally friendly, non-toxic solvents, ability to operate at lower temperatures that do not cause the degradation of bioactive compounds, and capacity for rapid extraction. This method is particularly notable for isolating bioactive compounds from plants. The extracts obtained have shown superior properties due to their activity against diseases such as cancer, which is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The aim of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the supercritical CO2 extraction method, as well as to discuss its advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, the study includes specific data on various plant materials, detailing the following parameters: plant name and region, bioactive compounds or compound classes, extraction temperature (°C), pressure (bar), time (minutes), co-solvent used, and flow rate. Additionally, this study covers extensive research on the isolation of bioactive compounds and the efficacy of the obtained extracts against cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Natural Products: From Extraction to Bioactivity Evaluation)
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