Plant-Derived Food: Relationship between Bioactive Compounds and Health Benefits

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2024 | Viewed by 854

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Agricultural Engineering and Agrifood Technology, Universitat de Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain
Interests: food chemistry; food toxicology; functional foods; botanicals, phytochemicals; bioactive compounds; botanical safety
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Science and Technology Program, Department of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, Zhuhai 519087, China
Interests: food science; phytochemicals; nutraceuticals; pharmaceuticals; functional foods; molecular nutrition; cell biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plant-derived food plays a substantial role in preventing chronic diseases. Fruits, berries, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, spices and herbs provide carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, fiber, minerals, vitamins and other bioactive compounds. These phytochemicals include polyphenols, carotenoids, glucosinolates, terpenoids, etc. and offer potential health benefits which are not available from other foods.

There is an increasing demand for plant-based foods due to their association with the reduced risk of contracting chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and some types of cancers. Available evidence indeed suggests that consuming more plant-based food could contribute to the prevention of some chronic diseases. Moreover, consumers perceive these kinds of products as being more natural and safer. Another factor contributing to the rising interest in plant-based foods is that they are more sustainably produced.

On the other hand, government policies should be refocused toward supporting the plant-based foods that should come to form a greater part of our diets. The development of plant-derived foods should be oriented to balance several aspects, such as taste, texture, shelf life, cost, sustainability, and innovation, and to ensure compliance with food safety and quality standards.

This Special Issue will devote a greater focus to highlighting the relationship between bioactive compounds and the health benefits of plant-derived foods. Safety evaluation of plant-derived foods and innovation in plant-based meats and other alternative products with protective effects on health will also be of interest.

Dr. Liliana Vargas-Murga
Prof. Dr. Baojun Xu
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

  • plant-based food
  • botanicals
  • phytochemicals
  • bioactive compounds
  • essential oils
  • antioxidant effect
  • health benefits
  • chronic diseases

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 11505 KiB  
Article
Revealing Molecular Mechanisms of the Bioactive Saponins from Edible Root of Platycodon grandiflorum in Combating Obesity
by Bincheng Han, Jinhai Luo and Baojun Xu
Plants 2024, 13(8), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13081123 - 17 Apr 2024
Viewed by 667
Abstract
Obesity has emerged as a significant health concern, as it is a disease linked to metabolic disorders in the body and is characterized by the excessive accumulation of lipids. As a plant-derived food, Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) was reported by many studies, indicating that [...] Read more.
Obesity has emerged as a significant health concern, as it is a disease linked to metabolic disorders in the body and is characterized by the excessive accumulation of lipids. As a plant-derived food, Platycodon grandiflorum (PG) was reported by many studies, indicating that the saponins from PG can improve obesity effectively. However, the anti-obesity saponins from PG and its anti-obesity mechanisms have not been fully identified. This study identified the active saponins and their molecular targets for treating obesity. The TCMSP database was used to obtain information on 18 saponins in PG. The anti-obesity target of the PG saponins was 115 targets and 44 core targets. GO and KEGG analyses using 44 core anti-obesity genes and targets of PG-active saponins screened from GeneCards, OMIM, Drugbank, and DisGeNet showed that the PI3K-Akt pathway, the JAK-STAT pathway, and the MAPK pathway were the major pathways involved in the anti-obesity effects of PG saponins. BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer and AutoDock Vina were used to perform molecular docking and process the molecular docking results. The molecular docking results showed that the active saponins of PG could bind to the major therapeutic obesity targets to play an obesity-inhibitory role. The results of this study laid the foundation for further research on the anti-obesity saponins in PG and their anti-obesity mechanism and provided a new direction for the development of functional plant-derived food. This research studied the molecular mechanism of PG saponins combating obesity through various signaling pathways, and prosapogenin D can be used to develop as a new potential anti-obesity drug. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop