Specialized Metabolites of Plants—Evaluation of Functional and Biological Value, Volume 2

Dear Colleagues,

For centuries, people used food solely for survival as a source of energy, but the discovery and definition of nutritionally significant food compounds or bioactive compounds has clarified and demonstrated numerous health aspects of food. Healthy diet is gaining more and more attention with the main aim of improving the overall quality of life and health prospects. The introduction of nutrient- rich foods has shown a number of positive effects on human health, especially by preventing many diseases of modern mankind, particularly neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

For this very reason, there is a growing interest in foods of natural origin with a high percentage of foods of plant origin. This trend has also increased the growing interest in the scientific study of specific specialized metabolites of plants (phytonutrients), especially from fruits, vegetables, aromatic and medicinal herbs, as well as some new food sources that are mostly neglected or still insufficiently studied, such as invasive plant species. The role of specialized metabolites or bioactive compounds in biosystems such as plant cells is that they have antioxidant activity. That is, they inhibit oxidation processes due to their ability to neutralize free radicals.

Due to increasingly pronounced climate change, global warming, drought and extreme weather events, plants have developed a number of adaptations to various stress factors (biotic, abiotic and anthropogenic) and have developed numerous protective mechanisms, i.e. responses to them, in order to survive. Introducing the sustainable agricultural practices in cultivation of fruits, vegetables, aromatic and medicinal herbs can be also an effective tool in the production of healthy, nutritious foods of significant biological and functional potential.

Given the great interest in plant species characterized by high levels of specialized metabolites, which represent a new challenge for modern agriculture and the search for new food sources, this Special issue will cover a variety of areas, from cultivation practices to new plant sources with high levels of phytochemicals, with the aim of contributing to the general knowledge on specialized metabolites of plants.

Dr. Jana Šic Žlabur
Dr. Sanja Radman
Prof. Dr. Martina Skendrović Babojelić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

•  phytochemicals
•  bioactive compounds
•  stress conditions
•  modern cultivation techniques
•  organic agriculture
•  fruits
•  vegetables
•  medicinal and aromatic plants
•  medicinal mushrooms

• Specialized Metabolites of Plants—Evaluation of Functional and Biological Value in Plants (24 articles)