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Research and Development of Functional Foods
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Research and Development of Functional Foods

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2022) | Viewed by 16791

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Zhaohui Xue

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Chemical Industry, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Interests: functional foods; separation and purification; preparation and processing technology; bioactivity evaluation; characterization and structure identification; downstream product development; food ecology and toxicology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to the Special Issue on Research and Development of Functional Foods.

With the gradual development of the world economy in recent years, the living standard of human beings has constantly been improving. After meeting the needs of food and clothing, people have begun to pursue a higher standard of daily food. The hope is to maintain human health with a daily diet of natural plants and animals, that is to say, to search for natural bioactive functional foods to fight against injury and disease. Natural active compounds generally refer to the biological factors that have the effect of anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-aging and so on, which mostly exist in people’s daily diet. The most widely applied functional components are flavonoids, polypeptides, alkaloids, polyphenols, dietary fibers, carotenoid and so on. With the development of science and biological research, some natural active components that are beneficial to the human body have been found and applied gradually. In particular, many beneficial components found in plants may even have the effect of inhibiting certain diseases. Therefore, the study of functional foods has become a hot spot of biological research in various countries.

This Special Issue is therefore dedicated to covering all areas of the research of functional foods. We invite contributions from cutting-edge research and recent developments in this field. Theoretical and experimental studies, as well as comprehensive reviews and investigation papers, are welcome.

Dr. Zhaohui Xue
Guest Editor

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. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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

  • functional foods
  • bioactivity evaluation
  • preparation and processing technology
  • characterization and structure identification

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 2982 KiB  
Article
Gastroprotective Effects of Fermented Gold Kiwi (Actinidia chinenesis L.) Extracts on HCl/EtOH-Induced Gastric Injury in Rats
by Eun-Jong Jeon, Ji-Hye Choi, Na-Yong Lee, Hyun-Jeong Oh, Hyuck-Se Kwon and Jungkee Kwon
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 5271; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12105271 - 23 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2798
Abstract
Gastritis and gastric ulcers caused by stressors such as drinking are common. The ability of functional foods to protect the stomach more effectively and reduce the risk of side effects is of interest. The fermentation process can increase the preservation and bioactive compound [...] Read more.
Gastritis and gastric ulcers caused by stressors such as drinking are common. The ability of functional foods to protect the stomach more effectively and reduce the risk of side effects is of interest. The fermentation process can increase the preservation and bioactive compound content of kiwi fruits. This study produced fermented kiwi powder using two lactic acids separated from gold kiwi fruits. Gold kiwi puree (Actinidia chinensis L.) was fermented using beneficial bacteria. Fermentation increased the content of bioactive compounds such as organic acids, flavonoids, and carotenoids. We investigated whether fermented gold kiwi (FGK) extract had antioxidant and gastric protective effects in an HCl/EtOH-induced gastritis animal model and pyloric ligation animal model. FGK increased radical scavenging activity in a dose-dependent manner. In the gastritis model, FGK inhibited inflammation-related factors such as iNOS, COX-2, IL-6, and TNF-α, while increasing the expression of the protective molecule PGE2. Furthermore, FGK administration improved gastric lesion site appearance, clinical symptoms, and mucosal thickness in rats. FGK also reduced gastric fluid volume, free acidity, total acidity, and pepsin activity in the pyloric ligation model. These results suggest that FGK can decrease the inflammatory response and protect the gastric mucosa. FGK therefore has the potential to prevent and treat gastritis and gastric ulcers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Development of Functional Foods)
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17 pages, 4936 KiB  
Article
Novel Insights of Herbal Remedy into NSCLC Suppression through Inducing Diverse Cell Death Pathways via Affecting Multiple Mediators
by Uyanga Batbold and Jun-Jen Liu
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 4868; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12104868 - 11 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1644
Abstract
Artemisia species previously have been reported to have antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiulcer, and anticancer properties. In this study, we investigated the prospective antitumor effects of Artemisia santolinifolia ethanol extract (ASE) against two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and their molecular mechanisms of [...] Read more.
Artemisia species previously have been reported to have antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiulcer, and anticancer properties. In this study, we investigated the prospective antitumor effects of Artemisia santolinifolia ethanol extract (ASE) against two non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and their molecular mechanisms of action. Morphological observations and flow cytometric analyses showed that ASE induced cell death in A549 and H23 cells but with different action features. Further studies by Western blotting showed that ASE induced caspase-3 cleavage in H23 cells, suggesting caspase-dependent apoptosis was predominantly involved in H23 cell death. Contrarily, ASE treatment selectively altered the glutathione peroxidase (GPX4) protein expression, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and lipid peroxidation in A549 cells, all of which are linked to ferroptosis. Using a ferroptosis inhibitor (desferrioxamine (DFO)), further study showed that DFO could significantly rescue ASE-induced cell death. All these results implied that ASE induced ferroptosis predominately in A549 cells. Several studies have demonstrated that the nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2) can be dual-selectively targeted depending on the cell line. Subsequently, it can exert opposing effects until either being activated or suppressed. This was consistent with our data, which might explain inconsistent observations of the cell death type in this study. In addition, after ASE treatment, signal transduction and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) were inhibited in both cell lines. Consequently, downstream prosurvival proteins, including heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and survivin, which play pivotal roles in the STAT3 pathway, decreased after ASE administration. Our findings revealed that ASE inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation by simultaneously downregulating prosurvival protein expressions and activating multiple cell death pathways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Development of Functional Foods)
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13 pages, 3839 KiB  
Article
Protective Effect of Siegesbeckia orientalis on Pancreatic β-Cells under High Glucose-Induced Glucotoxicity
by Chi-Chang Chang, Jer-Yiing Houng, Shih-Wei Wang, Chin-Feng Hsuan, Yung-Chuan Lu, Tzu-Hsien Chang and Ya-Ling Chen
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(22), 10963; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112210963 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1998
Abstract
The glucotoxicity caused by long-term exposure of β-cells to high glucose (HG) conditions may lead to the generation of more reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduce the activity of antioxidant enzymes, cause cell damage and apoptosis, and induce insulin secretion dysfunction. Siegesbeckia orientalis linne [...] Read more.
The glucotoxicity caused by long-term exposure of β-cells to high glucose (HG) conditions may lead to the generation of more reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduce the activity of antioxidant enzymes, cause cell damage and apoptosis, and induce insulin secretion dysfunction. Siegesbeckia orientalis linne is a traditional folk herbal medicine used to treat snake bites, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, and immune deficiencies. In this study, we evaluated the protective effect of S. orientalis ethanol extract (SOE) on cell death and oxidative stress in RIN-m5f pancreatic β-cells stimulated by two HG concentrations (50–100 mM). In the cell viability assay, SOE could significantly increase the survival rate of pancreatic β-cells under HG-induced conditions. For the oxidative stress induced by HG condition, the treatment of SOE effectively reduced the ROS formation, increased the content of intracellular glutathione, and up-regulated the expression of antioxidant enzymes, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase. As a result, the SOE treatment could decrease the glucotoxicity-mediated oxidative damage on RIN-m5F β-cells. Moreover, SOE had the function of regulating insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells under different HG-mediated conditions. It could decrease the increasing intracellular insulin secretion under the low glucose concentration to normal level; while increase the decreasing intracellular insulin secretion under the relatively high glucose concentration to normal level. Taken together, this study suggests that SOE has a protective effect on pancreatic β-cells under the HG-stimulated glucotoxic environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Development of Functional Foods)
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Review

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15 pages, 13333 KiB  
Review
Auxin Response Factors Are Ubiquitous in Plant Growth and Development, and Involved in Crosstalk between Plant Hormones: A Review
by Xiaohong Kou, Xiaoyang Zhao, Bingda Wu, Chao Wang, Caie Wu, Sen Yang, Jiaqian Zhou and Zhaohui Xue
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1360; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031360 - 27 Jan 2022
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 9535
Abstract
Auxin response factors (ARFs) are an important family of transcription factors involved in the exertion of auxin in plants and play a key role in regulating the growth and development of plant nutritional and reproductive organs such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, [...] Read more.
Auxin response factors (ARFs) are an important family of transcription factors involved in the exertion of auxin in plants and play a key role in regulating the growth and development of plant nutritional and reproductive organs such as roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Foods of plant origin occupy an important place in the nutritional structure of the human diet, and the main edible parts of different plants vary. In this paper, we review recent research reports on ARFs and summarize its role in the regulation of leaf, flower, root, and fruit growth, as well as other important life activities. We also present the challenges and opportunities that ARFs will present in the future. It will be important to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms by which ARFs interact with other proteins or genes. In addition, it is worth considering that more technical tools should be put into the study of ARFs and that the research should be oriented towards solving practical problems. In the future, it is expected that the nutrition and function of plant-derived foods can be improved through gene editing and other means. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Development of Functional Foods)
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