Chemical Properties, Extraction Methods and Bioaccessibility of Bioactive Substances in Plant Foods

Dear Colleagues,

Traditional medicine and its different uses are an important part of human cultures and for centuries were the only way to promote health, fulfilling the fundamental role of curing diseases in humans. Thus, plants with various healing effects have been used in most cultures around the world, consumed either topically or through ingestion. Bioactive compounds from plants can be extracted through different methods, conditions and plant material treatments to increase their concentrations or purity. Their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, etc., biological functions are just some of the beneficial effects demonstrated by compounds obtained from natural sources. Bioaccessibility can be defined as the fraction of a food matrix that, as consequence of release through digestion, is susceptible to crossing the intestinal barrier or moving to the colonic phase. There are factors that greatly affect the bioaccessibility of compounds, such as the oxidation of some nutrients or the chemical changes that they undergo during preparation.

We invite contributions discussing extraction and optimization techniques, chemical properties, the characterization and identification of bioactive compounds, biological activities, health benefits and the bioaccessibility of functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Prof. Dr. Cecilia E. Martínez-Sánchez
Guest Editor

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• bioactive compounds
• extraction methods
• bioaccessibility
• functional foods
• chemical properties