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Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora
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Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2022) | Viewed by 29348

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Roberto Parra-Saldívar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engienering and Sciencie, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64849, Mexico
Interests: cactus plants and fruits; green extraction technologies; metabolite encapsulation; medicinal plants; antioxidants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elda M. Melchor-Martínez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Tecnologico de Monterrey, Institute of Advanced Materials for Sustainable Manufacturing, Monterrey 64849, Mexico
Interests: natural products chemistry; medicinal chemistry; biotechnology; enzymology; biomedicine; nanotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit short communications, research, or review articles to the Special Issue entitled “Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora”.

Mexican plants have inspired the search for bioactive compounds due to their medicinal properties. Since the era of ancient native Indigenous groups, Mexico’s flora has played a significant role, being part of their traditional knowledge. Through time, phytochemicals from groups of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, and polyketides, among others, have been isolated from Mexican plants, and a vast range of biological properties have demonstrated their therapeutic potential. Drug discovery based on plants has been a goal for the proposal of new therapeutic strategies for the control of diseases. Therefore, this Special Issue collects the latest findings and achievements in the isolation, characterization, and biological activities of molecules from Mexican flora.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Parra-Saldívar
Dr. Elda M. Melchor-Martínez
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

  • Mexican flora
  • bioactive compounds
  • drug discovery

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4144 KiB  
Article
Combined Pulsed Electric Field and Microwave-Assisted Extraction as a Green Method for the Recovery of Antioxidant Compounds with Electroactive Potential from Coffee Agro-Waste
by Rodrigo Macías-Garbett, Juan Eduardo Sosa-Hernández, Hafiz M. N. Iqbal, Juan Carlos Contreras-Esquivel, Wei Ning Chen, Elda M. Melchor-Martínez and Roberto Parra-Saldívar
Plants 2022, 11(18), 2362; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11182362 - 10 Sep 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2389
Abstract
Coffee agro-waste is a potential source of polyphenols with antioxidant activity and application in the food and cosmetic trades. The usage of these byproducts persists as a challenge in the industrial landscape due to their high content of purported toxic substances hindering management. [...] Read more.
Coffee agro-waste is a potential source of polyphenols with antioxidant activity and application in the food and cosmetic trades. The usage of these byproducts persists as a challenge in the industrial landscape due to their high content of purported toxic substances hindering management. This study presents a green extractive process using pulsed electric field (PEF) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE) to recover polyphenols from coffee parchment and two varieties of pulp, posing quick processing times and the use of water as the only solvent. The performance of this process with regard to the bioactivity was assessed through the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, total flavonoid content, DPPH, ABTS and FRAP antioxidant tests. The phenolic composition of the extracts was also determined through HPLC-MS and quantified through HPLC-DAD. When compared to treatment controls, PEF + MAE treated samples presented enhanced yields of total phenolic content and radical scavenging activity in all analyzed residues (Tukey test significance: 95%). The chromatographic studies reveal the presence of caffeic acid on the three analyzed by-products. The HPLC-DAD caffeic acid quantification validated that a combination of MAE + PEF treatment in yellow coffee pulp had the highest caffeic acid concentration of all studied extraction methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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10 pages, 477 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Chemical Composition, Physicochemical Parameters, and Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activity of the Essential Oil of Cultivated and Wild Mexican Oregano Poliomintha longiflora Gray
by Alma E. Mora-Zúñiga, Mayra Z. Treviño-Garza, Carlos A. Amaya Guerra, Sergio A. Galindo Rodríguez, Sandra Castillo, Enriqueta Martínez-Rojas, José Rodríguez-Rodríguez and Juan G. Báez-González
Plants 2022, 11(14), 1785; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141785 - 6 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2471
Abstract
Mexican oregano Poliomintha longiflora Gray located in the municipality of Higueras, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was collected during the autumn (September, OCO), winter (January, OCI) and summer (June, OCV) seasons, under cultivation conditions. It was also collected in wild conditions during the autumn (OSO). [...] Read more.
Mexican oregano Poliomintha longiflora Gray located in the municipality of Higueras, Nuevo Leon, Mexico was collected during the autumn (September, OCO), winter (January, OCI) and summer (June, OCV) seasons, under cultivation conditions. It was also collected in wild conditions during the autumn (OSO). Essential oil (EO) was extracted from leaves and the color, refractive index and density were reported. The EO yield, antioxidant activity by ORAC assay, thymol and carvacrol concentration and antibacterial activity were statistically compared (p-value = 0.05). Among the various harvests, the highest EO yield, antioxidant activity, thymol and carvacrol content and antibacterial activity against Salmonella Typhi were observed in leaves harvested in autumn. In order to compare wild oregano with cultivated oregano, analyses were performed in the season with the highest essential oil yield and antioxidant activity, recorded in autumn. The main difference found was the ratio of thymol:carvacrol in wild oregano oil, which was 1:8.6, while in cultivated oregano, it was approximately 1:2, which was maintained in all three seasons. The EO on wild conditions showed the best antibacterial activity in Salmonella Typhi. On the other hand, wild and cultivated oregano showed similar antioxidant activity. One advantage of the use of cultivated oregano is that its supply is guaranteed, in contrast to that of wild oregano. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
12 pages, 720 KiB  
Article
Hypolipidemic and Antioxidant Effects of Guishe Extract from Agave lechuguilla, a Mexican Plant with Biotechnological Potential, on Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Male Rats
by Edgar R. Esquivel-Gutiérrez, Salvador Manzo-Avalos, Donovan J. Peña-Montes, Alfredo Saavedra-Molina, Zoé P. Morreeuw and Ana G. Reyes
Plants 2021, 10(11), 2492; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10112492 - 18 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2242
Abstract
In the present study, we used a by-product from Agave lechuguilla (guishe) to test its antidiabetic effect, hypolipidemic activity, and capacity to mitigate the oxidative stress in kidney mitochondria from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Orally, a crude aqueous extract from lyophilized guishe [...] Read more.
In the present study, we used a by-product from Agave lechuguilla (guishe) to test its antidiabetic effect, hypolipidemic activity, and capacity to mitigate the oxidative stress in kidney mitochondria from streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Orally, a crude aqueous extract from lyophilized guishe was administered over 5 weeks at different doses. Blood glucose and body weight were monitored. Also, blood chemistry, bilirubin, and alanine aminotransferase were assayed. Furthermore, the activity of catalase, thiobarbituric acid reactive species, mitochondrial superoxide dismutase, glutathione and glutathione peroxidase were determined in isolated kidney mitochondria. Our results show that guishe extracts have no antidiabetic properties at any dose. Nevertheless, it was able to diminish serum triglyceride levels and regulate the oxidative stress observed in isolated kidney mitochondria. These observations indicate that the aqueous extract from guishe can be used to treat abnormalities in serum lipids, as a hypolipidemic, and mitigate the oxidative stress, as an antioxidant, occurring during diabetes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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18 pages, 1671 KiB  
Article
Metabolomic Profile and Cytotoxic Activity of Cissus incisa Leaves Extracts
by Deyani Nocedo-Mena, María Yolanda Ríos, M. Ángeles Ramírez-Cisneros, Leticia González-Maya, Jessica N. Sánchez-Carranza and María del Rayo Camacho-Corona
Plants 2021, 10(7), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10071389 - 7 Jul 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3444
Abstract
Cissus incisa leaves have been traditionally used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat certain cancerous illness. This study explored the metabolomic profile of this species using untargeted technique. Likewise, it determined the cytotoxic activity and interpreted all data by computational tools. The [...] Read more.
Cissus incisa leaves have been traditionally used in Mexican traditional medicine to treat certain cancerous illness. This study explored the metabolomic profile of this species using untargeted technique. Likewise, it determined the cytotoxic activity and interpreted all data by computational tools. The metabolomic profile was developed through UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS for dereplication purposes. MetaboAnalyst database was used in metabolic pathway analysis and the network topological analysis. Hexane, chloroform/methanol, and aqueous extracts were evaluated on HepG2, Hep3B, HeLa, PC3, A549, and MCF7 cancer cell lines and IHH immortalized hepatic cells, using Cell Titer proliferation assay kit. Hexane extract was the most active against Hep3B (IC50 = 27 ± 3 μg/mL), while CHCl3/MeOH extract was the most selective (SI = 2.77) on the same cell line. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed similar profiles between the extracts, while a Venn diagram revealed 80 coincident metabolites between the bioactive extracts. The sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis pathway was the most significant identified. The Network Pharmacology (NP) approach revealed several targets for presqualene diphosphate, phytol, stearic acid, δ-tocopherol, ursolic acid and γ-linolenic acid, involved in cellular processes such as apoptosis. This work highlights the integration of untargeted metabolomic profile and cytotoxic activity to explore plant extracts, and the NP approach to interpreting the experimental results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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Review

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23 pages, 1733 KiB  
Review
Towards an Eco-Friendly Coffee Rust Control: Compilation of Natural Alternatives from a Nutritional and Antifungal Perspective
by Nora E. Torres Castillo, Yovanina Aguilera Acosta, Lizeth Parra-Arroyo, María Adriana Martínez-Prado, Verónica M. Rivas-Galindo, Hafiz M. N. Iqbal, A. Damiano Bonaccorso, Elda M. Melchor-Martínez and Roberto Parra-Saldívar
Plants 2022, 11(20), 2745; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11202745 - 17 Oct 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4341
Abstract
Hemileia vastatrix (HV) is the pathogen responsible for the coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease that has spread globally. CLR causes losses of up to a billion dollars annually and affects all types of crops regardless of their production regime (organic or inorganic). Additionally, [...] Read more.
Hemileia vastatrix (HV) is the pathogen responsible for the coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease that has spread globally. CLR causes losses of up to a billion dollars annually and affects all types of crops regardless of their production regime (organic or inorganic). Additionally, smallholders produce approximately 80% of coffee in developing countries. The condition causes losses of up to a billion dollars annually. It affects all types of crops regardless of their production regime (organic or inorganic). Approximately 80% of coffee is produced by smallholders in developing countries. Until the 90s, shaded-production systems and native varieties were encouraged; however, the rapid spread of CLR has forced farmers to migrate towards inorganic schemes, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about natural alternatives to pesticides that can be implemented to control HV. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to compile the currently existing options, emphasizing two key factors that guarantee efficient rust control: selective fungicidal activity against HV and the nutrition of coffee crops. Thus, by comprehending how these natural compounds (such as plant, bacteria, fungi, animals, or algae metabolites) impact coffee rust proliferation. Furthermore, since a various range of biochar effects contributes to the control of foliar fungal pathogens through modification of root exudates, soil properties, and nutrient availability, which influence the growth of antagonist microorganisms, we present a review of the pathogen-suppressive effects of biochar, and new control strategies suitable for organic schemes can be developed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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23 pages, 2943 KiB  
Review
State-of-the-Art and Opportunities for Bioactive Pentacyclic Triterpenes from Native Mexican Plants
by Juan Antonio Alfaro-Almaguer, Luis Alberto Mejía-Manzano and José González-Valdez
Plants 2022, 11(17), 2184; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11172184 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2263
Abstract
Native Mexican plants are a wide source of bioactive compounds such as pentacyclic triterpenes. Pentacyclic triterpenes biosynthesized through the mevalonate (MVA) and the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-phosphate (MEP) metabolic pathways are highlighted by their diverse biological activity. Compounds belonging to the oleanane, ursane, and lupane groups [...] Read more.
Native Mexican plants are a wide source of bioactive compounds such as pentacyclic triterpenes. Pentacyclic triterpenes biosynthesized through the mevalonate (MVA) and the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol-phosphate (MEP) metabolic pathways are highlighted by their diverse biological activity. Compounds belonging to the oleanane, ursane, and lupane groups have been identified in about 33 Mexican plants, located geographically in the southwest of Mexico. The works addressing these findings have reported 45 compounds that mainly show antimicrobial activity, followed by anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, anxiolytic, hypoglycemic, and growth-stimulating or allelopathic activities. Extraction by maceration and Soxhlet with organic solvents and consecutive chromatography of silica gel have been used for their whole or partial purification. Nanoparticles and nanoemulsions are the vehicles used in Mexican formulations for drug delivery of the pentacyclic triterpenes until now. Sustainable extraction, formulation, regulation, isolation, characterization, and bioassay facilities are areas of opportunity in pentacyclic triterpenes research in Mexico while the presence of plant and human resources and traditional knowledge are strengths. The present review discusses the generalities of the pentacyclic triterpene (definition, biogenic classification, and biosynthesis), a summary of the last two decades of research on the compounds identified and their evaluated bioactivity, the generalities about the extraction and purification methods used, drug delivery aspects, and a critical analysis of the advantages and limitations of research carried out in this way. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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24 pages, 2586 KiB  
Review
Nephroprotective Plants: A Review on the Use in Pre-Renal and Post-Renal Diseases
by Mario Adrián Tienda-Vázquez, Zoé P. Morreeuw, Juan Eduardo Sosa-Hernández, Anaberta Cardador-Martínez, Ernesto Sabath, Elda M. Melchor-Martínez, Hafiz M. N. Iqbal and Roberto Parra-Saldívar
Plants 2022, 11(6), 818; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11060818 - 18 Mar 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 10026
Abstract
Kidney diseases are expected to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2040. Several physiological failures classified as pre-, intra-, and post-renal factors induce kidney damage. Diabetes, liver pathologies, rhabdomyolysis, and intestinal microbiota have been identified as pre-renal factors, and lithiasis or [...] Read more.
Kidney diseases are expected to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2040. Several physiological failures classified as pre-, intra-, and post-renal factors induce kidney damage. Diabetes, liver pathologies, rhabdomyolysis, and intestinal microbiota have been identified as pre-renal factors, and lithiasis or blood clots in the ureters, prostate cancer, urethral obstructions, prostate elongation, and urinary tract infections are post-renal factors. Additionally, the nephrotoxicity of drugs has been highlighted as a crucial factor inducing kidney injuries. Due to the adverse effects of drugs, it is necessary to point to other alternatives to complement the treatment of these diseases, such as nephroprotective agents. Plants are a wide source of nephroprotective substances and can have beneficial effects in different levels of the physiological pathways which lead to kidney damage. In traditional medicines, plants are used as antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, diuretics, and anticancer agents, among other benefits. However, the mechanism of action of some plants empirically used remains unknown and scientific data are required to support their nephroprotective effects. The present work reviewed the plants with a beneficial effect on kidney diseases. The classification of nephroprotective plants according to the clinical definition of pre-renal, intrinsic, and post-renal factors is proposed to orient their use as complementary treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Molecules from Mexican Flora)
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