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Functional Compounds in Agri-Foods: Chemistry and Health Benefits

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A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2023) | Viewed by 8348

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zhaojun Wei

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Guest Editor

School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
Interests: natural products; antioxidation; functional food; human health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Kefeng Zhai

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Guest Editor

School of Biological and Food Engineering, Suzhou University, Suzhou, China
Interests: natural products; antioxidation; functional food; human health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products derived from natural resources, such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and trace bioactive compounds, play an important role in human health and food quality. Traditionally, natural products have been used in the prevention and treatment of various human diseases. The field of natural product pharmacology, with a reported wide range of pharmacological properties with fewer side effects, is now receiving much attention among researchers.

In recent years, the antiaging, antioxidation, antitumor, antiviral, antidiabetic, and regulating intestinal microecology of natural products and derivatives has been a hot research topic. Hence, it is necessary for us to study the connection between the structure and function of natural products, as well as their application in the field of nutritional functional food.

Prof. Dr. Zhaojun Wei
Prof. Dr. Kefeng Zhai
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. Foods 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 2900 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 compounds
phytochemicals
food science
biological activity
bioactive compounds
human health
agrifoods

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2441 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Two-Phase Extraction Processes, Physicochemical Characteristics, and Autoxidation Inhibition of the Essential Oil Nanoemulsion of Citrus reticulata Blanco (Tangerine) Leaves

by Marwan M. A. Rashed, Ling You, Abduljalil D. S. Ghaleb and Yonghua Du

Foods 2023, 12(1), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12010057 - 22 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1583

Abstract

Combined ultrasound–microwave techniques and pre-enzymatic treatment (hemicellulase and cellulase) enhance essential oil isolation from Citrus reticulata Blanco (tangerine) leaves (CrBL). Subsequently, synergistic effects of modified amorphous octenyl succinic anhydride starch (OSA-MS), almond oil, and high-energy microfluidics were studied in synergy with ultrasound techniques in the production of CrBL essential oil (CrBL-EO) nanoemulsion (CrBL-EONE). GC–MS was used to study the extraction technique. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis was used with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) techniques to investigate the nanoemulsion matrices’ physical and chemical properties. The D-limonene nanoemulsion (D-LNE) reached the optimal size of droplets (65.3 ± 1.1 r.nm), polydispersity index (PDI) (0.167 ± 0.015), and ζ-potential (−41.0 ± 0.4 mV). Besides, the CrBL-EONE obtained the optimal size of droplets (86.5 ± 0.5 r.nm), PDI (0.182 ± 0.012), and ζ-potential (−40.4 ± 0.8 mV). All the nanoparticle treatments showed significant values in terms of the creaming index (CI%) and inhibition activity (IA%) in the β-carotene/linoleate system with a low degradation rate (DR). The current study’s findings showed that integrated ultrasound–microwave techniques and pre-enzymatic treatment could enhance the extraction efficiency of the CrBL-EO. In addition, OSA-MS and almond oil can also be employed to produce CrBL-EONE and D-LNE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Compounds in Agri-Foods: Chemistry and Health Benefits)

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17 pages, 600 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Protein- and Fiber-Enriched, Sugar-Free Lentil Cookies: Impact of Whey Protein, Inulin, and Xylitol on Physical, Textural, and Sensory Characteristics

by Lívia Hajas, Csilla Benedek, Éva Csajbókné Csobod and Réka Juhász

Foods 2022, 11(23), 3819; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11233819 - 26 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1986

Abstract

Gluten-free (GF) diets often become nutritionally imbalanced, being low in proteins and fibers and high in sugars. Preparing GF foods with improved nutritional value is therefore a key challenge. This study investigates the impact of different combinations of whey protein (11.9%), inulin (6.0%) as dietary fiber, and xylitol (27.9%) as a sweetener used in the enrichment of green- and red-lentil-based gluten-free cookies. The cookies were characterized in terms of baking loss, geometric parameters, color, texture, and sensory profile. The results showed that these functional ingredients had different impacts on the lentil cookies made of different (green/red) lentils, especially regarding the effect of fiber and xylitol on the volume (green lentil cookies enriched with fiber: 16.5 cm³, sweetened with xylitol: 10.9 cm³ vs. 21.2 cm³ for control; red lentil cookies enriched with fiber: 21.9 cm³, sweetened with xylitol: 21.1 cm³ vs. 21.8 cm³ for control) and color (e.g., b* for green lentil cookies enriched with fiber: 13.13, sweetened with xylitol: 8.15 vs. 16.24 for control; b* for red lentil cookies enriched with fiber: 26.09, sweetened with xylitol: 32.29 vs. 28.17 for control). Regarding the textural attributes, the same tendencies were observed for both lentil products, i.e., softer cookies were obtained upon xylitol and whey protein addition, while hardness increased upon inulin enrichment. Stickiness was differently influenced by the functional ingredients in the case of green and red lentil cookies, but all the xylitol-containing cookies were less crumbly than the controls. The interactions of the functional ingredients were revealed in terms of all the properties investigated. Sensory analysis showed that the addition of whey protein resulted in less intensive “lentil” and “baked” aromas (mostly for red lentil cookies), and replacement of sugar by xylitol resulted in crumblier and less hard and crunchier products. The application of different functional ingredients in the enrichment of lentil-based gluten-free cookies revealed several interactions. These findings could serve as a starting point for future research and development of functional GF products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Compounds in Agri-Foods: Chemistry and Health Benefits)

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18 pages, 4197 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Isorhamnetin Induces Apoptosis and Suppresses Metastasis of Human Endometrial Carcinoma Ishikawa Cells via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Promotion and Matrix Metalloproteinase-2/9 Inhibition In Vitro and In Vivo

by Lei Ye, Run-Hui Ma, Xiu-Xiu Zhang, Kiran Thakur, Jian-Guo Zhang, Mohammad Rizwan Khan, Rosa Busquets and Zhao-Jun Wei

Foods 2022, 11(21), 3415; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11213415 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1609

Abstract

Endometrial cancer (EC) is a very common female cancer which has attracted more and more attention. According to the individual patient’s condition, the current treatment of EC patients is mainly based on surgery, which is supplemented by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and endocrine intervention. However, these existing treatment strategies also have some inevitable limitations. Therefore, it is particularly important to find an active ingredient with low toxicity and a high safety profile against EC. Isorhamnetin is a flavonoid known to be present in a variety of plants, such as sea buckthorn, dry willow, and wolfberry. In recent years, the anti-tumor effects of isorhamnetin have been reported. In our study, isorhamnetin was shown to induce apoptosis in Ishikawa cells by inducing the endogenous mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and exogenous death receptor pathway, promoting the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related pathway, and activating the corresponding markers of UPR response. In addition, isorhamnetin affected the expression of MMP2 and MMP9-related proteins in vitro and in vivo and eventually repressed metastasis. Therefore, isorhamnetin can be used as a promising medicinal material for the treatment of EC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Compounds in Agri-Foods: Chemistry and Health Benefits)

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Review

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22 pages, 3621 KiB

Open AccessReview

Targeting Virulence Factors of Candida albicans with Natural Products

by Qing-Ru Bu, Meng-Yuan Bao, Yue Yang, Tian-Ming Wang and Chang-Zhong Wang

Foods 2022, 11(19), 2951; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11192951 - 21 Sep 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2521

Abstract

Natural products derived from natural resources, including nutritional functional food, play an important role in human health. In recent years, the study of anti-fungal and other properties of agri-foods and derived functional compounds has been a hot research topic. Candida albicans is a parasitic fungus that thrives on human mucosal surfaces, which are colonized through opportunistic infection. It is the most prevalent cause of invasive fungal infection in immunocompromised individuals, resulting in a wide variety of clinical symptoms. Moreover, the efficacy of classical therapeutic medications such as fluconazole is often limited by the development of resistance. There is an ongoing need for the development of novel and effective antifungal therapy and medications. Infection of C. albicans is influenced by a great quantity of virulence factors, like adhesion, invasion-promoting enzymes, mycelial growth, and phenotypic change, and among others. Furthermore, various natural products especially from food sources that target C. albicans virulence factors have been researched, providing promising prospects for C. albicans prevention and treatment. In this review, we discuss the virulence factors of C. albicans and how functional foods and derived functional compounds affect them. Our hope is that this review will stimulate additional thoughts and suggestions regarding nutritional functional food and therapeutic development for patients afflicted with C. albicans. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Compounds in Agri-Foods: Chemistry and Health Benefits)

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