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Extraction, Characterization, and Potential Applications of Bioactive Molecules from Natural Sources, 4th Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 1738

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural sources are incredible suppliers of bioactive molecules that find applications in several sectors, including those related to health, food, the environment, and cosmetics.

Growing consumer attention to health and the environment and the increasing trend of replacing chemical with natural preparations to achieve health benefits have encouraged research on “new, natural providers” of bioactive molecules. This active research area could lead to the production of both bioactive molecules with known properties (e.g., antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant) and applications, alongside molecules with not-yet well-established or totally unknown biological activities.

This Special Issue on the “Extraction, Characterization, and Potential Applications of Bioactive Molecules from Natural Sources, 4th Edition” covers sources from both the plant kingdom and microorganisms that could greatly contribute to producing and applying compounds of natural origin with biological activities varying depending on the type of bioactive molecule.

This Special Issue on “Extraction, Characterization, and Potential Applications of Bioactive Molecules from Natural Sources, 4th Edition” aims to present the most recent achievements in the production and application of naturally derived bioactive compounds. We invite researchers to participate by submitting a contribution, in the form of original research papers and reviews, in their field of expertise.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Eco-friendly extraction and characterization of bioactive compounds from plants and agro-industrial waste;
  • Production and characterization of bioactive compounds from microorganisms (saccharides, pigments, proteins, peptides, and lipids);
  • Assessment of the biological properties of natural compounds (antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-phytopathogen, anti-inflammatory);
  • Novel applications of bioactive compounds extracted from natural sources in foods, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, cosmetics, and the environment.

Dr. Alessandra Morana
Dr. Giuseppe Squillaci
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. Molecules 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

  • sustainable extraction
  • waste valorization
  • medicinal plants
  • antioxidant
  • naturally derived active ingredients
  • bioactive compounds from microorganisms
  • antimicrobials
  • anticancer

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 280 KiB  
Article
Insecticidal and Repellent Activity of Piper crassinervium Essential Oil and Its Pure Compounds Against Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
by Farhan Mahmood Shah, Mei Wang, Jianping Zhao, Joseph Lee, Paulo Vitor Farago, Jane Manfron, Ikhlas A. Khan and Abbas Ali
Molecules 2024, 29(22), 5430; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29225430 - 18 Nov 2024
Viewed by 578
Abstract
Piper crassinervium Kunth (Piperaceae) essential oil (EO) was evaluated for its toxicity and repellency against red imported fire ants (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta Buren, and a hybrid (HIFA) of red (S. invicta) and black (S. richteri Forel) imported fire ants. Through bioactivity-guided [...] Read more.
Piper crassinervium Kunth (Piperaceae) essential oil (EO) was evaluated for its toxicity and repellency against red imported fire ants (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta Buren, and a hybrid (HIFA) of red (S. invicta) and black (S. richteri Forel) imported fire ants. Through bioactivity-guided fractionation, two major components, elemicin and myristicin, were isolated from the EO. Removal of treated sand in a digging bioassay was used as the criterion for repellency. The EO showed significantly higher repellency at concentrations of 7.8 µg/g against RIFA and HIFA workers, as compared to the DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) or ethanol control. Elemicin exhibited repellency at 3.9 and 7.8 µg/g against RIFA and HIFA workers, respectively, whereas myristicin was active at 7.8 µg/g against both species. DEET failed at 31.25 µg/g against RIFA and 15.6 µg/g against HIFA. The EO showed LC50 values of 97.9 and 73.7 µg/g against RIFA and HIFA workers, respectively. Myristicin was more toxic against RIFA and HIFA with LC50 values of 54.3 and 35.3 µg/g, respectively. Elemicin showed 20–40% mortality at the highest screening dose of 125 µg/g. Fipronil exhibited the highest toxicity against RIFA and HIFA, with LC50 of 0.43 and 0.51 µg/g, respectively. Different formulations of these natural products should be evaluated to explore their use potential under natural field conditions. Full article

Review

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17 pages, 1294 KiB  
Review
Natural Antimicrobial Compounds as Promising Preservatives: A Look at an Old Problem from New Perspectives
by Ludmila Yarmolinsky, Faina Nakonechny, Tigabu Haddis, Boris Khalfin, Arik Dahan and Shimon Ben-Shabat
Molecules 2024, 29(24), 5830; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29245830 - 10 Dec 2024
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Abstract
Antimicrobial compounds of natural origin are of interest because of the large number of reports regarding the harmfulness of food preservatives. These natural products can be derived from plants, animal sources, microorganisms, algae, or mushrooms. The aim of this review is to consider [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial compounds of natural origin are of interest because of the large number of reports regarding the harmfulness of food preservatives. These natural products can be derived from plants, animal sources, microorganisms, algae, or mushrooms. The aim of this review is to consider known antimicrobials of natural origin and the mechanisms of their action, antimicrobial photodynamic technology, and ultrasound for disinfection. Plant extracts and their active compounds, chitosan and chitosan oligosaccharide, bioactive peptides, and essential oils are highly potent preservatives. It has been experimentally proven that they possess strong antibacterial capabilities against bacteria, yeast, and fungi, indicating the possibility of their use in the future to create preservatives for the pharmaceutical, agricultural, and food industries. Full article
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