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Bioactive Compounds in Food Nutrition: Identification and Biological Activity

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2024) | Viewed by 4730

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Grain Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China
Interests: polyphenols; inflammation; food toxicology; health effects; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
The State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea & Food Science, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Interests: fermented foods; tea; nutrition; polysaccharides; gut microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products have been well known since antiquity for their beneficial effects on human health and have been utilised in chronic diseases and gut health, etc. Since then, they have attracted the interest of the scientific community, leading to the identification, isolation and quantification of their compounds and the study of their biomedical properties. These natural products greatly affect health through the modulation of key genes related to metabolism. The consumption of natural products, such as phenolics, polyphenols, flavonoids, phytosterols, phospholipids, bioactive peptides and dietary fiber components, also affects the microbiome present in the hindgut and these microorganisms synthesize many metabolites that affect the prevalence of chronic, infectious, and even neurological diseases that significantly impact life expectancy and quality.

Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Nutritional and health implications (antihypertensive, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, anti-cholesterolemic, and anti-acetylcholinesterase) of phytochemicals (phenolics, polyphenols, flavonoids, phytosterols, phospholipids, bioactive peptides and dietary fiber components).
  • Effects of food processing on the nutritional value and bioactivity of phytochemicals in foods.
  • Interactions between nutrients and bioactive compounds associated with foods that control metabolic pathways, chronic diseases, and cancer.
  • Bioactive peptides in foods with health benefits focused on the reduction in inflammation, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular risk.

Dr. Dongxu Wang
Prof. Dr. Guijie Chen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • natural products
  • polyphenols
  • bioactive peptides
  • dietary fiber
  • nutritional value
  • chronic diseases
  • inflammation
  • gut health
  • food processing
  • food nutrition

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 7540 KiB  
Article
Integrated Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals the Underlying Antibacterial Mechanisms of the Phytonutrient Quercetin-Induced Fatty Acids Alteration in Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 27217
by Haihua Yuan, Hang Xun, Jie Wang, Jin Wang, Xi Yao and Feng Tang
Molecules 2024, 29(10), 2266; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29102266 - 11 May 2024
Viewed by 922
Abstract
The utilization of natural products in food preservation represents a promising strategy for the dual benefits of controlling foodborne pathogens and enhancing the nutritional properties of foods. Among the phytonutrients, flavonoids have been shown to exert antibacterial effects by disrupting bacterial cell membrane [...] Read more.
The utilization of natural products in food preservation represents a promising strategy for the dual benefits of controlling foodborne pathogens and enhancing the nutritional properties of foods. Among the phytonutrients, flavonoids have been shown to exert antibacterial effects by disrupting bacterial cell membrane functionality; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the effect of quercetin on the cell membrane permeability of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 27217. A combined metabolomic and transcriptomic approach was adopted to examine the regulatory mechanism of quercetin with respect to the fatty acid composition and associated genes. Kinetic analysis and molecular docking simulations were conducted to assess quercetin’s inhibition of β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabG), a potential target in the bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. Metabolomic and transcriptomic results showed that quercetin increased the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids and the levels of membrane phospholipids. The bacteria reacted to quercetin-induced stress by attempting to enhance fatty acid biosynthesis; however, quercetin directly inhibited FabG activity, thereby disrupting bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis. These findings provide new insights into the mechanism of quercetin’s effects on bacterial cell membranes and suggest potential applications for quercetin in bacterial inhibition. Full article
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17 pages, 2939 KiB  
Article
(−)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Reduces Perfluorodecanoic Acid-Exacerbated Adiposity and Hepatic Lipid Accumulation in High-Fat Diet-Fed Male C57BL/6J Mice
by Hong Xu, Xu Zhong, Taotao Wang, Shanshan Wu, Huanan Guan and Dongxu Wang
Molecules 2023, 28(23), 7832; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28237832 - 28 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1336
Abstract
Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), an enduring and harmful organic pollutant, is widely employed in diverse food-related sectors. Our previous studies have provided evidence that PFDA has the potential to facilitate obesity and hepatic fat accumulation induced by high-fat diet (HFD) intake. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a [...] Read more.
Perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA), an enduring and harmful organic pollutant, is widely employed in diverse food-related sectors. Our previous studies have provided evidence that PFDA has the potential to facilitate obesity and hepatic fat accumulation induced by high-fat diet (HFD) intake. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol found in green tea, has been suggested to possess potential preventive effects against metabolic abnormalities and fatty liver. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of EGCG on PFDA-exacerbated adiposity and hepatic lipid accumulation in HFD-fed mice. The results showed that EGCG reduced body weight gain; tissue and organ weights; blood glucose, serum insulin, HOMA-IR, leptin, and lipid parameters; serum inflammatory cytokines (IL−1β, IL−18, IL−6, and TNF−α); and hepatic lipid accumulation in PFDA-exposed mice fed an HFD. Further work showed that EGCG improved liver function and glucose homeostasis in mice fed an HFD and co-exposed to PFDA. The elevated hepatic mRNA levels of SREBP-1 and associated lipogenic genes, NLRP3, and caspase−1 in PFDA-exposed mice fed an HFD were significantly decreased by EGCG. Our work provides evidence for the potential anti-obesity effect of EGCG on co-exposure to HFD and PFDA and may call for further research on the bioactivity of EGCG to attenuate the endocrine disruption effects of long-term exposure to pollutants. Full article
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16 pages, 3186 KiB  
Article
(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Attenuates the Adverse Reactions Triggered by Selenium Nanoparticles without Compromising Their Suppressing Effect on Peritoneal Carcinomatosis in Mice Bearing Hepatocarcinoma 22 Cells
by Qiuyan Ban, Wenjing Chi, Xiaoxiao Wang, Shiqiong Wang, Dan Hai, Guangshan Zhao, Qiuyan Zhao, Daniel Granato and Xianqing Huang
Molecules 2023, 28(9), 3904; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28093904 - 5 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1806
Abstract
Increasing evidence shows that selenium and polyphenols are two types of the most reported compounds in tumor chemoprevention due to their remarkable antitumor activity and high safety profile. The cross-talk between polyphenols and selenium is a hot research topic, and the combination of [...] Read more.
Increasing evidence shows that selenium and polyphenols are two types of the most reported compounds in tumor chemoprevention due to their remarkable antitumor activity and high safety profile. The cross-talk between polyphenols and selenium is a hot research topic, and the combination of polyphenols and selenium is a valuable strategy for fighting cancer. The current work investigated the combination anti-peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) effect of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) and green tea (Camellia sinensis) polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in mice bearing murine hepatocarcinoma 22 (H22) cells. Results showed that SeNPs alone significantly inhibited cancer cell proliferation and extended the survival time of mice bearing H22 cells. Still, the potential therapeutic efficacy is accompanied by an approximately eighty percent diarrhea rate. When EGCG was combined with SeNPs, EGCG did not affect the tumor proliferation inhibition effect but eliminated diarrhea triggered by SeNPs. In addition, both the intracellular selectively accumulated EGCG without killing effect on cancer cells and the enhanced antioxidant enzyme levels in ascites after EGCG was delivered alone by intraperitoneal injection indicated that H22 cells were insensitive to EGCG. Moreover, EGCG could prevent SeNP-caused systemic oxidative damage by enhancing serum superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and glutathione peroxidase levels in healthy mice. Overall, we found that H22 cells are insensitive to EGCG, but combining EGCG with SeNPs could protect against SeNP-triggered diarrhea without compromising the suppressing efficacy of SeNPs on PC in mice bearing H22 cells and attenuate SeNP-caused systemic toxicity in healthy mice. These results suggest that EGCG could be employed as a promising candidate for preventing the adverse reactions of chemotherapy including chemotherapy-induced diarrhea and systemic toxicity in cancer individuals. Full article
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