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Valuable Sources of Bioactive Natural Products from Plants, 2nd Edition
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Valuable Sources of Bioactive Natural Products from Plants, 2nd Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 1254

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Reneta Gevrenova

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Dunav Str., Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: pharmacognosy; phytochemistry; pharmaceutical botany; natural products; saponins; phenolic compounds; flavonoids; HPLC and LC-MS strategies in specialized natural product elucidation; metabolite profiling; antioxidants; synergism between natural products and drugs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Dimitrina Zheleva-Dimitrova

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Dunav Str., Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: phytochemistry; pharmacognosy; pharmaceutical botany; natural products; phenolic compounds; sesquiterpene lactones; HPLC and LC-MS strategies in specialized natural product elucidation; acetylholinesterase inhibitors; enzyme inhibitory activity; antioxidants; obesity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vessela Balabanova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Sofia, 2 Dunav Str, 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: medicinal plants; cultivation; plant conservation; plant metabolimics; antioxidant activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Medicinal plants are a valuable source of new bioactive compounds and promising molecular entities for use in drug development. In the last decade, a variety of analytical methodologies have been used to emphasize the potential of plants as a source of compounds with functional and medicinal relevance. On the other hand, there is an increasingly high demand for safe medicinal products with increased functionality and improved characteristics, necessitating intensive research in the field of specialized (secondary) plant metabolites. Medicinal and aromatic plants are used worldwide in folk medicine; the phytochemical community has thus turned its focus to the medicinal value of traditional knowledge.

Plant-derived specialized metabolites are of particular interest because of the importance of both the chemical and biological characterization of medicinal plants. Currently, numerous research groups are focusing on the study and characterization of herbal extracts to identify a variety of plant metabolites and their potential to exert protective effects on biological systems. With the development of modern metabolite profiling methods and metabolomics, a holistic survey of natural extracts with valuable information on their chemical composition has become feasible.

This Special Issue of Plants will highlight the exploration of medicinal plants used in different regions of the world as valuable sources of bioactive compounds.

Dr. Reneta Gevrenova
Dr. Dimitrina Zheleva-Dimitrova
Dr. Vessela Balabanova
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

  • medicinal plants
  • bioactive compounds
  • secondary metabolites
  • phytochemistry
  • metabolite profiling
  • ethnobotany
  • phytopharmacology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 2133 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Variation and Mean Degree of Polymerization of Proanthocyanidin in Leaves and Branches of Rabbiteye Blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum Aiton)
by Yasuko Koga, Yuno Setoguchi, Kazuhiro Sugamoto, Yo Goto, Tomonari Hirano and Hisato Kunitake
Plants 2024, 13(13), 1864; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13131864 - 5 Jul 2024
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Abstract
The leaves and branches of rabbiteye blueberry are rich in proanthocyanidins, which are thought to have different physiological activities depending on their structure and degree of polymerization. In this study, we analyzed the constituents of the leaves and branches of rabbiteye blueberry to [...] Read more.
The leaves and branches of rabbiteye blueberry are rich in proanthocyanidins, which are thought to have different physiological activities depending on their structure and degree of polymerization. In this study, we analyzed the constituents of the leaves and branches of rabbiteye blueberry to determine the seasonal variations in polyphenol and proanthocyanidin (PAC) contents as well as their mean degrees of polymerization (mDP). Total PAC content was determined using two methods: The p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde (DMACA) method, which measures monomeric PAC, showed an increase from spring to summer in both leaves and branches. On the other hand, using the butanol/HCl method, which measures only polymerized PAC, the PAC content of leaves increased from spring to summer but those of branches remained low throughout the year, showing no significant increase or decrease. Furthermore, analysis of the mDP of PAC showed increases from spring to summer in the leaves of ‘Kunisato 35 gou’. Although the highest value (8.0) was observed in October, values around 4 remained throughout the year in the branches. Since differences in polymerization degree affect absorption in the body and physiological properties such as antioxidant capacity, selecting the appropriate harvest time and plant organs for each purpose is expected to ensure the quality of processed blueberry foods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valuable Sources of Bioactive Natural Products from Plants, 2nd Edition)

Review

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21 pages, 3618 KiB  
Review
Phytochemistry and Biological Activities of Agrostemma Genus—A Review
by Aleksander Smakosz, Adam Matkowski and Izabela Nawrot-Hadzik
Plants 2024, 13(12), 1673; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13121673 - 17 Jun 2024
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Abstract
The family Caryophyllaceae comprises more than 2600 species spread widely across all the continents. Their economic importance is mainly as ornamentals (carnation) and as weeds in agriculture. Some species have been used traditionally (and some are still) in herbal medicine or as emulsifiers [...] Read more.
The family Caryophyllaceae comprises more than 2600 species spread widely across all the continents. Their economic importance is mainly as ornamentals (carnation) and as weeds in agriculture. Some species have been used traditionally (and some are still) in herbal medicine or as emulsifiers in food processing. These applications are based on the high content of triterpenoid saponins. Typical for this family are also ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs), which are potentially highly toxic. Agrostemma githago L. (common corncockle) was historically considered a serious toxicological hazard owing to cereal grain contamination by its seeds. Notwithstanding, it was also recommended as a drug by various herbalists. In this review, the literature was searched in the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases for papers focused on the chemical composition and bioactivity of the two accepted species of the Agrostemma genus. This systematic review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Current research reports the cytotoxicity against neoplastic cells; the protection against oxidative stress; the suppression of Leishmania major culture growth; the inhibition of protein synthesis; and the antiviral, anti-angiogenic, and antihypercholesterolemic activities of common corncockle. The future prospects of using A. githago saponins as adjuvants in drug formulations and enhancing the cytotoxicity of RIPs are also discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Valuable Sources of Bioactive Natural Products from Plants, 2nd Edition)
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