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Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods, and Novel Foods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 February 2024) | Viewed by 4331

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Irini F. Strati

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Guest Editor

Department of Food Science and Technology, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
Interests: extraction of natural antioxidants from agricultural and industrial by-products; bioactive compounds; encapsulation; HPLC chromatography methods for the analysis of natural antioxidants; analysis of oils and fats
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Thalia Tsiaka

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Guest Editor

Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of West Attica, Athens, Greece
Interests: food byproducts; non-conventional extraction techniques; targeted and untargeted LC-MS methods; phytochemical profile of food samples/extracts; bioanalysis; metabolomic studies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural bioactive compounds include a wide diversity of structures for the production of functional foods, food additives and nutraceuticals. To obtain high-quality and -purity bioactive molecules from foods, the appropriate use of extraction techniques and its influence on physicochemical and sensory properties is of prime importance. Conventional time-consuming and solvent-intensive methods of extraction are increasingly being replaced by green solvents such as ionic liquids, supercritical fluids, and deep eutectic solvents, as well as non-conventional methods of extraction assisted by microwaves, pulse electric fields, enzymes, ultrasound, or pressure.

Moreover, natural bioactive constituents are receiving attention due to their health-promoting potential and enhanced nutritional value, based on the ability to modulate one or more metabolic processes. This Special Issue on “Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits” will explore various aspects of natural bioactive compounds present in foods, including the application of new and more effective analysis and extraction techniques, physicochemical properties, and the investigation of potent antioxidant activity of food bioactive compounds involved in disease prevention.

Dr. Irini F. Strati
Dr. Thalia Tsiaka
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. Foods 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 2900 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

natural bioactive compounds
extraction techniques
physicochemical properties
health benefits
nutritional value
antioxidant activity

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 3427 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Purification and Biochemical Characterization of a Novel Fibrinolytic Enzyme from Culture Supernatant of Coprinus comatus

by Jinyu Wang, Xiaolan Liu, Yan Jing and Xiqun Zheng

Foods 2024, 13(9), 1292; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13091292 - 23 Apr 2024

Viewed by 355

Abstract

A novel fibrinolytic enzyme was produced by the liquid fermentation of Coprinus comatus. The enzyme was purified from the culture supernatant by hydrophobic interactions, gel filtration, and ion exchange chromatographies. It was purified by 241.02-fold, with a specific activity of 3619 U/mg and a final yield of 10.02%. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the purity of the enzyme, showing a single band with a molecular weight of 19.5 kDa. The first nine amino acids of the N-terminal of the purified enzyme were A-T-Y-T-G-G-S-Q-T. The enzyme exhibited optimal activity at a temperature of 42 °C and pH 7.6. Its activity was significantly improved by Zn²⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Mg²⁺ while being inhibited by Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺, Al²⁺, and Ba²⁺. The activity of the enzyme was completely inhibited by ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), and it was also dose-dependently inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF) and soy trypsin inhibitor (SBTI). However, inhibitors such as N-α-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethyl ketone (TPCK), aprotinin, and pepstatin did not significantly affect its activity, suggesting that the enzyme was a serine-like metalloproteinase. The enzyme acted as both a plasmin-like fibrinolytic enzyme and a plasminogen activator, and it also exhibited the capability to hydrolyze fibrinogen and fibrin. In vitro, it demonstrated the ability to dissolve blood clots and exhibit anticoagulant properties. Furthermore, it was found that the enzyme prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), and thrombin time (TT), and reduced the levels of fibrinogen (FIB) and prothrombin activity (PA). Based on these studies, the enzyme has great potential to be developed as a natural agent for the prevention and treatment of thrombotic diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits)

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15 pages, 2617 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of an Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Procedure for the Simultaneous Determination of Anthocyanins and Phenolic Acids in Black Beans

by Valentina Melini, Francesca Melini, Francesca Luziatelli and Maurizio Ruzzi

Foods 2023, 12(19), 3566; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12193566 - 26 Sep 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 934

Abstract

Beans are an essential source of nutritional components such as plant proteins, minerals and dietary fiber, as well as of antioxidants such as phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are praised for their biological activities and possible benefits on human health. Since no official methods are available for phenolic compound extraction, the optimization of extraction parameters via Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has become a commonly used methodological approach for reliable determinations. This study aimed to apply RSM to optimize the ultrasound-assisted extraction procedure of phenolic compounds, including anthocyanins, from black beans. A Generally Recognized As Safe solvent (ethanol) was used. Solvent concentration, extraction time, and solvent/sample ratio were optimized to maximize two responses: Total Anthocyanin Content (TAC) and Total Phenolic Content (TPC). An ethanol concentration of 64%, 30 min extraction time, and a 50 mL/g solvent/sample ratio were identified as the optimal extraction conditions. The TAC was 71.45 ± 1.96 mg cyanidin-3-O-glucoside equivalents 100 g⁻¹ dm, and the TPC was 60.14 ± 0.89 mg gallic acid equivalents 100 g⁻¹ dm. Among the pigmented phenolic compounds, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and peonidin-3-O-glucoside were identified in the extracts. Regarding phenolic acids, caffeic, sinapic, and t-ferulic acids were detected. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits)

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20 pages, 4456 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bioactive Nutrient Retention during Thermal-Assisted Hydration of Lupins

by Dilini Perera, Gaurav Kumar, Lavaraj Devkota and Sushil Dhital

Foods 2023, 12(4), 709; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12040709 - 6 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1272

Abstract

Lupin, an arid pulse, is gaining popularity as a super food due to its superior nutritional properties. However, it has not been considered for large scale thermal processing, e.g., canning. The present work evaluated the best time/temperature combination to hydrate lupins for canning with minimum losses of bioactive nutrients, pre-biotic fibre, and total solids during hydration. The two lupin species showed a sigmoidal hydration behaviour, which was adequately modelled by the Weibull distribution. The effective diffusivity, D_eff, increased from 7.41 × 10⁻¹¹ to 2.08 × 10⁻¹⁰ m²/s for L. albus and 1.75 × 10⁻¹⁰ to 1.02 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s for L. angustifolius with increasing temperature, namely, from 25 °C to 85 °C. The lag phase decreased from 145 min to 56 min in L. albus and 61 min to 28 min in L. angustifolius. However, based on the effective hydration rate, reaching the equilibrium moisture, minimum loss of the solids, and prebiotic fibre and phytochemicals, 200 min hydration at 65 °C can be regarded as the optimum temperature of hydration. The findings are thus relevant for designing the hydration protocol to achieve the maximum equilibrium moisture content and yield with the minimum loss of solids (phytochemicals and prebiotic fibres) for L. albus and L. angustifolius. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits)

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Review

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21 pages, 1293 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Agri-Food Waste Recycling for Healthy Remedies: Biomedical Potential of Nutraceuticals from Unripe Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

by Vincenzo Piccolo, Arianna Pastore, Maria Maisto, Niloufar Keivani, Gian Carlo Tenore, Mariano Stornaiuolo and Vincenzo Summa

Foods 2024, 13(2), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13020331 - 20 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1247

Abstract

Unripe tomatoes represent an agri-food waste resulting from industrial by-processing products of tomatoes, yielding products with a high content of bioactive compounds with potential nutraceutical properties. The food-matrix biological properties are attributed to the high steroidal glycoalkaloid (SGA) content. Among them, α-tomatine is the main SGA reported in unripe green tomatoes. This review provides an overview of the main chemical and pharmacological features of α-tomatine and green tomato extracts. The extraction processes and methods employed in SGA identification and the quantification are discussed. Special attention was given to the methods used in α-tomatine qualitative and quantitative analyses, including the extraction procedures and the clean-up methods applied in the analysis of Solanum lycopersicum L. extracts. Finally, the health-beneficial properties and the pharmacokinetics and toxicological aspects of SGAs and α-tomatine-containing extracts are considered in depth. In particular, the relevant results of the main in vivo and in vitro studies reporting the therapeutic properties and the mechanisms of action were described in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Bioactive Compounds from Foods: Extraction Technologies, Physicochemical Properties and Health Benefits)

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