Phytochemical Analyses of Secondary Metabolites of Aromatic, Medicinal and Food Plants
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 7950
Special Issue Editors
Interests: extraction techniques; GCMS; natural products; phytochemistry
Interests: edible flowers; ornamental plants; postharvest; plant physiology; bioactive compounds; volatile organic compounds; in vitro tissue culture and plant propagation; nutraceuticals; functional food
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are small organic molecules characterized by different molecular structures and several biological functions. These molecules are essential for plants to interact with the ecosystem in which they live, protecting them from both biotic and abiotic stresses, attracting pollinators, and taking part in symbiotic interactions, thus increasing plant survival rate. Environmental, geographical, morphogenetic, and genetic factors can qualitatively and quantitatively affect PSMs; therefore, their amount and type can vary significantly between plants within the same genera, species, and population.
Aromatic, medicinal, and food plants are historically known as pivotal sources of PSMs, and are currently exploited as drugs, perfumes and fragrances, natural dyes, spice and food flavoring, food preservatives, and natural ingredient in cosmetics or food supplements.
Today, there is a growing focus on green and innovative methods for extracting metabolites, high-performance identification technologies for PSMs in plants, and determining how they can be externally induced for various purposes, as well as identifying their volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profile, chemotaxonomy, functional foods, and metabolomics.
This Special Issue will cover research on the phytochemical composition of cultivated and wild aromatic, medicinal, and food plants, with an emphasis on their aromatic profile and phytonutritional content. Papers concerning innovative extraction, isolation, and identification methodologies, PSMs’ bioactive properties, and industrial uses are also welcome.
Dr. Basma Najar
Dr. Ilaria Marchioni
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- volatile organic compounds
- essential oils
- nutraceuticals
- bioactive properties
- secondary metabolites
- phytochemistry
- metabolomic
- extraction techniques
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Authentication of natural (E)-anethol sources by gas chromatography (GC/MS) and stable isotope (GC/IRMS) analysis
Authors: Brett J. Murphy*, Tyler M. Wilson, Emma A. Ziebarth, Chris Bowerbank, and Richard E. Carlson
Affiliation: D. Gary Young Research Institute
Abstract: The aromatic compound (E)-anethol is widely used in the flavor, fragrance, and medicinal industries. The compound is commonly produced through steam distillation of fennel, star anise, and anise seed. Given the cost of production, these natural and authentic essential oils are commonly adulterated with lower cost naturals or synthetic alternatives. The current study investigates essential oil profiles (GC/MS) and stable isotope ratios (GC/IRMS) of the abundant compound (E)-anethol in both authentic reference standards (n = 15) and commercially available samples (n = 30) to establish multifaceted techniques of ensuring authenticity and to evaluate the current essential oil market for sources of (E)-anethol. Findings suggest that adulteration of natural products takes various forms, occurs in 27% of analyzed commercial samples, and that an analytical approach with both GC/MS and GC/IRMS is best for authentication.
Title: Ozone sensitivity of Melissa officinalis plants to chronic exposure: the role of antioxidant mechanisms
Authors: Pisuttu, C.; Carucci, M.G.; Cotrozzi, L., Lorenzini, G., Nali, C., Pellegrini, E., Risoli, S., Scimone, G.
Affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, Pisa 56124, Italy
Abstract: Ozone (O3) represents a widespread tropospheric pollutant in industrialized countries, predicted to rise up to 42-84 ppb in 2100, and it provokes severe threats to animal and plant health, due to its strong oxidation potential. In this study, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), a common aromatic plant widely cultivated as culinary and pharmaceutical herb, was exposed to realistic O3 dosages (80 ppb, 5 h day-1) for 5 consecutive weeks. Ecophysiological, biometric and biochemical parameters were investigated in order to assess the responses induced by predicted concentrations of this pollutant. Photosynthetic performance resulted significantly affected: net photosynthesis decreased already after 7 days from the beginning of the exposure (FBE) together with stomatal conductance (-48 and -36% if compared to controls, respectively). The presence of roundish and dark-blackish necrosis located in the interveinal adaxial areas of the leaves was observed simultaneously with the increase of hydrogen peroxide content already at 7 days FBE (+47%), reaching a peak at 35 days FBE (+62%), and malondialdehyde (a fundamental lipid peroxidation marker) accumulation at 14 days FBE (more than 3 fold-higher in comparison to controls), confirming the presence of oxidative burst. Simultaneously, treated plants showed the activation of the antioxidant activity systems, measured through oxygen radical absorption capacity, at 14 days FBE (+81%). At 14 and 28 days FBE an increase of phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity was observed (+ 100% and more than 1 fold-higher in comparison to controls, respectively). Consequently, all three phenolic acids analyzed (Rosmarinic, trans-Cinnamic and Protocatechuic acids) showed remarkable increases starting at 14 days FBE (+74%, 2 and 3 fold-higher in comparison to controls, respectively) and continuing until the end of the exposure. Similarly, flavonoids content also increased between 7 and 14 days FBE (as demonstrated by the high values of apigenin, esperidin and esperitin, more than 1 fold-higher on the average). Although the activation of antioxidant machinery, O3-exposed plants showed a drastically reduction in all biometric parameters evaluated, resulted as severely affected by the exposition to realistic O3 concentrations.
