Relevance of Plant Phytochemicals in the Promotion of Human Health: Second Edition

Dear Colleagues,

A range of evidence has demonstrated that plants perform an important role in the care and improvement of human health. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 80% of the Earth’s inhabitants depend on, or have used, traditional medicine/complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) for their primary health care needs, conceptualizing TCAM as any practice, piece of knowledge, and belief on health that incorporates medicine based on plants, animals, and/or minerals, as well as spiritual therapies, manual techniques, and exercises applied individually or in combination to maintain wellbeing. Different positive factors generate continuous acceptance, highlighting its diversity, flexibility, easy access, relatively low cost, and most importantly the presence of relatively low adverse toxic effects (which are frequently attributed to synthetic drugs) in comparison with allopathic medicine). An essential part of this beneficial impact is attributed to the presence of phytochemicals or bioactive compounds, classified as terpenoids (carotenoids and sterols), fibers, polysaccharides, saponins, organosulfur compounds (isothiocyanates and indoles), alkaloids, and phenolics compounds (flavonoids, stilbenes, coumarins, tannins, and phenolic acids) that jointly or individually have demonstrated the ability to prevent and/or treat different pathologies, including cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, hypertension, atherosclerosis, chronic respiratory diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer. In recent decades, its popularization and scientific interest has grown, in order to identify new phytochemicals, study their protective and/or therapeutic effects, and establish the mechanisms of action involved (especially those related to their antioxidant capacity). This Special Issue of Plants aims to provide a platform for researchers and academicians to demonstrate their interest in the mentioned fields. Therefore, please accept a cordial invitation to submit original research articles or comprehensive review articles for inclusion in this Special Issue.

Dr. Eduardo Osiris Madrigal-Santillán
Dr. Manuel Sánchez-Gutiérrez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• plants
• pharmacology
• toxicology
• pharmacognosy
• natural products
• phytochemicals
• chemopreventive mechanisms
• antioxidant agents
• oxidative stress
• toxicological genetics

• Relevance of Plant Phytochemicals in the Promotion of Human Health in Plants (3 articles)