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Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products

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A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Postharvest Biology, Quality, Safety, and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2023) | Viewed by 11944

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Catherine M. Cook

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Guest Editor

Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization—DEMETER, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: plant secondary metabolites; biological activity; chemical biodiversity; essential oils; plant physiology; stress; photosynthesis; plant genetic resources

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural phytochemicals, such as the secondary metabolites phenols, polyphenols, terpenes, and alkaloids, and their associated biological activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal, insecticidal, can impart predator deterrents, and defensive roles for plants, and subsequently phytochemicals have potential applications in agriculture, food industry, medicine, and healthcare.

Edible fruits, vegetables, and herbs are safe, non-toxic sources of bioactive molecules. However, considering the enormous biodiversity of plants and the scarcity of research on many traditional and wild horticultural crops in terms of their bioactive compounds, further research in this field is needed.

Considering the growing trend of consumer interest in ‘green’, eco-friendly chemicals and phytochemical-rich nutritional diets with health benefits such as reducing oxidative stress, this Special Issue aims to highlight recent developments in natural plant product research with respect to the chemical composition and biological activities of phytochemicals present in a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Dr. Catherine M. Cook
Guest Editor

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Keywords

chemical composition
natural products
biodiversity
phytochemicals
secondary metabolites
bioactive compounds
biological activity
antioxidants
traditional medicine
traditional foods
fruits
vegetables
herbs

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3905 KiB

Open AccessArticle

BAP (6-Benzylaminopurine) Seed-Priming Enhanced Growth, Antioxidant Accumulation and Anthocyanin Metabolism in Olive Sprouts

by Samy Selim, Ahlem Zrig, Mha Albqmi, Mohammad M. Al-Sanea, Taghreed S. Alnusaire, Mohammed S. Almuhayawi, Soad K. Al Jaouni, Shaimaa Hussein, Mona Warrad and Hamada AbdElgawad

Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 1055; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9091055 - 20 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1174

Abstract

Given the importance of olive sprouts, it is crucial to explore their potential as an innovative source of bioactive and nutritive compounds through research. Here, we aimed at investigating the potential role of benzylaminopurine (BAP) in improving the tissue chemical composition and bioactivity of olive sprouts. To this end, seeds of two olive varieties (Olea europaea L. vr. Kroniaki and Coratina) were primed with BAP at 25 µM. A substantial enhancement was observed in biomass accumulation by 35% and 30% in Kroniaki and Coratina varieties, respectively. Likewise, the photosynthetic pigments (total chlorophyll, α- and β-carotene, lutein and β-cryptoxanthin) in both varieties were increased, mainly in Coratina. At primary metabolic level, BAP priming improved sprout lipid composition, particularly in Coratina variety. At antioxidant level, BAP priming improved lipid antioxidants (α-, β- and γ-tocopherols) and water-soluble antioxidants (phenols, flavonoids, ascorbate, glutathione and anthocyanins) in both olive varieties. At the anthocyanins level, their precursors (phenylalanine, cinnamic acid, coumaric acid and naringenin) and key biosynthetic enzyme activity (phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), chalcone synthase (CHS), coenzyme A ligase (4CL) and cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H)) were improved in olive varieties, but to a greater extent in Coratina variety. Overall, the sprouts of BAP-primed olive seeds could potentially enhance their nutritional value, suggesting that the sprouts of BAP-primed olive seeds can be used as a food ingredient and additives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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13 pages, 2926 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vernonia amygdalina Leaf Extract Loaded Electrosprayed Particles for Inhibiting Phytophthora spp. Causing Citrus Root Rot

by Pratchaya Tipduangta, Sunee Chansakaow, Sirinthicha Thakad, Pawitrabhorn Samutrtai, Aekkhaluck Intharuksa, Ratchadawan Cheewangkoon, Anuruddha Karunarathna, Tipprapa Promthep and Busaban Sirithunyalug

Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 969; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9090969 - 25 Aug 2023

Viewed by 976

Abstract

Citrus is an important economic plant in Thailand. The infection of citrus roots by Phytophthora nicotianae leads to root rot, reduced growth, and branch death. Although fosetyl aluminum and metalaxyl are commonly employed to address citrus root rot, they possess limitations in terms of their ability to diffuse to the root of citrus. Vernonia amygdalina leaf ethyl acetate extract (VLE) has been demonstrated to effectively inhibit Pythium deliense, a fungus closely related to Phytophthora nicotianae. This study aimed to investigate the anti-fungus activity of fractions obtained from the ethyl acetate extract of Vernonia amygdalina leaf against Phytophthora nicotianae, identify the most effective fraction, and formulate it into polymeric micro/nanoparticles using the electrospray process. The findings revealed that the VLE fraction eluted with ethanol:chloroform 1:1 had a high alkaloid content from metabolomic study and exhibited the potential to inhibit Phytophthora nicotianae at a concentration of 200 µg/mL. Consequently, this fraction was selected for incorporation into polymer blends of Poly Vinyl Alcohol/cellulose acetate to generate electrosprayed particles with a diameter of 0.97 ± 0.55 microns. These particles effectively suppressed in vitro Phytophthora nicotianae, thereby suggesting that VLE-containing electrosprayed particles have the potential to be applied and their in vivo performance in the treatment of citrus root rot evaluated in future experiments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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9 pages, 9571 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceCommunication

Phytochemical and Antioxidant Characterization of Extracts from Unexplored Medicinal Plants Salix schwerinii and Salix kochiana

by Jeongho Lee, Yunseok Song, Hyerim Son, Seunghee Kim, Kang Hyun Lee, Badamtsetseg Bazarragchaa, Changyoung Lee and Hah Young Yoo

Horticulturae 2023, 9(9), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9090955 - 23 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1123

Abstract

For a long time, species of the genus Salix have been widely utilized and studied as medicinal plants; however, the biological activity and phytochemical composition of Salix schwerinii (SS) and S. kochiana (SK) have not been studied at all. This study investigated the antioxidant properties of SS and SK extracts and detected phytochemical compounds in the extracts. The results showed that the antioxidant activities (IC₅₀) of SS extract, SK extract, and ascorbic acid (reference) were as follows, respectively: 169.8, 79.8, and 71.2 μg mL⁻¹ for ABTS cation radical scavenging and 38.4, 26.2, and 9.3 μg mL⁻¹ for DPPH free radical scavenging. The results imply that SK has a high potential as a natural antioxidant. The phytochemical compositions of extracts (mg g⁻¹) were analyzed as follows: SS extracts, 217.7 phenolics (1.54 catechin, 0.86 syringic acid, 0.46 luteolin, and others) and 5.06 salicin; SK extracts, 71.0 phenolics (0.54 catechin, 0.28 myricetin, 0.12 salicylic acid, and others) and 2.11 salicin. Compared to previous studies, the present findings go further to highlight that SS deserves attention as a novel source of salicin. The present study highlights the need for further studies on the aspects of medicinal functions of the extracts, bioprocess design for efficient phytochemical extraction, and applications of bioactive substances. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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19 pages, 18572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biological Activity of Combretum erythrophyllum: Antioxidant, Apoptotic, and Cytotoxic Activity of the Leaf and Stembark Extract

by Sahejna Bantho, Yougasphree Naidoo, Yaser Hassan Dewir, Moganavelli Singh and Ayuvna Bantho

Horticulturae 2023, 9(3), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9030305 - 23 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1783

Abstract

Species of Combretum are highly valued in Africa due to the plethora of traditional medicinal uses they may offer and the medicinally important phytometabolites they are known to contain. Traditionally, C. erythrophyllum is used to treat bacterial infections, venereal diseases, abdominal pain, sores, infertility, and labour pains, while displaying, anti-viral, anti-parasitic, cytotoxic, and mutagenic activities. There are numerous published works available on the bioactivity of phytometabolites of the leaf extracts of C. erythrophyllum; however there have been limited or no studies published on the bioactivity of the stembark. Hence, this study aimed to provide a comparative analysis of the biological activity of the leaf and stembark extracts of C. erythrophyllum. The following characters were evaluated through the emanating study: total flavonoid and phenolic content, as well as the antioxidant, cytotoxic, and apoptosis activities of the leaf and stembark extract. Methanolic extracts appeared to have the highest possible antioxidant potential among all of the tested extracts and displayed the lowest IC50 values (leaf 5.29 and stembark 4.29 µg/mL) when evaluated using the DPPH assay, the methanolic extracts appeared to quantify the largest amount of compositional phenolic content (1341.05 ± 4.4 mg/GAE/g). Methanolic extracts were the best performing, with the overall lowest IC50 values when tested against HeLa and HEK293 cells (leaf 54.53 µg/mL and stembark 18.30 µg/mL). A positive correlation between % inhibition and extract concentrations was noted for all of the assays. The extent/level of antioxidant activity was seen to be directly proportional to the flavonoid and phenolic content. Extracts with the highest total phenolic content appeared to display the strongest cytotoxic activity. This study integrated the use of fluorescence microscopy with acridine orange staining in order to accurately determine the viability of cells. A direct correlation was observed between the results obtained from the cytotoxicity and apoptosis assay. It may be concluded that the antioxidant properties, total phenolic, and total flavonoid content were directly proportional to the apoptotic and cytotoxic activity expressed by the tested extracts. Focus should now be placed on isolating phytocompounds of importance from the best performing extracts. The transformation of an isolate into a drug of pharmacological importance has yet to be appraised on a large scale. Therefore, further evaluation of this species and particularly the transformation of the isolates needs to be explored as this species has shown immense medicinal potential. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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14 pages, 2570 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Genetic Variability for Fruit Nutritional Composition in the Ex-Situ Collection of Jujube (Ziziphus spp.) Genotypes of Arid Regions of India

by Vijay Singh Meena, Kartar Singh, Neelam Shekhawat, Rakesh Bhardwaj, Hanuman Lal, Kirti Rani, Veena Gupta, Ashok Kumar, Akath Singh, Jagan Singh Gora and Pradeep Kumar

Horticulturae 2023, 9(2), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020210 - 5 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1552

Abstract

Jujube or ber (Ziziphus spp.) is one of the most important fruit crops of India’s arid and semi-arid regions because of its high adaptability to resource constraints hot (semi)arid region. Jujube is a rich source of minerals, vitamins and dietary antioxidants to arid zone dwellers, where it is known as poor man’s apple. Given the present rising trends in discovering and exploiting plant-based health-promoting compounds, it is imperative to know the extent of variability with respect to fruit nutritional compositions present in the jujube germplasms. In this study, we assessed genetic variability for fruit nutritional and functional quality traits in eighteen jujube accessions belonging to three species (Z. mauritiana, Z. rotundifolia and Z. oenoplia) from an ex-situ collection from Indian arid and semi-arid regions in two consecutive fruiting seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22). Results revealed significant variability among eighteen jujube genotypes for important fruits physico-biochemical parameters. The IC 625864 (Z. oenoplia) identified as a superior accession for fruit antioxidant potential with having high levels of total phenols (256.2 mg/100 g dry weight) and total antioxidants (423 mg/100 g in FRAP). Moreover, IC 625849 (Z. mauritiana) and IC 625848 (Z. rotundifolia) were other genotypes containing high levels of phenols and total antioxidant (FRAP). Thus, while aiming for simultaneous improvement for total antioxidants with phenols, IC 625848, IC 625849 and IC 625864 genotypes can be considered as valuable resource for jujube fruit quality improvement program. Further, the high levels of phenotypic variance with high genotypic variance coupled with high heritability and genetic advance particularly for total antioxidants, total phenols, and ascorbic acid contents in fruits, indicating them to be considered as reliable biochemical markers to identify the productive genotypes having higher amounts of dietary antioxidants. Depending on the identified genotypes for their richness in the particular phytonutrients, these can be exploited either for table purpose or biofortification of other products, or using in jujube breeding program for quality improvement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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10 pages, 2496 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Identification and Characterization of Major Flavonoids in Extracts from an Unexplored Medicinal Herb Orostachys fimbriata

by Jeongho Lee, Hyerim Son, Kang Hyun Lee, Seunghee Kim, Ganzorig Myagmar, Soo-Yong Kim, Youngsang Chun and Hah Young Yoo

Horticulturae 2022, 8(11), 1092; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8111092 - 18 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1937

Abstract

Orostachys species have been recognized as medicinal herbs in East Asia. Although O. fimbriata is known as a traditional medicine, its antioxidant properties have not been investigated compared to other Orostachys species. In this study, we characterized the antioxidant compounds and determined the antioxidant activity of O. fimbriata for the first time. As a result, 1 g of O. fimbriata extracts contains 288.5 ± 7.4 mg polyphenols, which contains 159.7 ± 8.3 mg flavonoids. In particular, 21.6%, 6.6%, and 2.6% of the total flavonoids were identified as epicatechin gallate, quercetin, and kaempferol, respectively, by LC-MS system. The DPPH IC₅₀, ABTS IC₅₀, and FRAP value of the extracts was determined to be 27.6 ± 5.5 μg/mL, 125.7 ± 6.0 μg/mL, and 115.0 ± 4.4 mmol/L, respectively. These activities were 30–57% of the positive control, ascorbic acid. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that O. fimbriata has outstanding antioxidant properties. This study highlights the need for further investigations toward in-depth research on the pharmacological functions of O. fimbriata. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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9 pages, 1409 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of 2iP and 2,4-D Concentrations on Accumulation of Biomass, Phenolics, Flavonoids and Radical Scavenging Activity in Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Cell Suspension Culture

by Jameel Mohammed Al-Khayri and Poornananda Madhava Naik

Horticulturae 2022, 8(8), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8080683 - 27 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2036

Abstract

Plant hormones are chemical compounds that serve as crucial signal molecules. The growth and induction of bioactive compounds in plant suspension cultures depend on the exogenous application of auxins and cytokinins at different concentrations. In this study, date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L., cv. Shishi) cell suspension cultures initiated in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium were treated with 2.5 and 5 mg/L 2-isopentenyladenine (2-iP) in combinations with 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and compared to the standard cell multiplication medium as the control, which contained 1.5 mg/L 2iP and 10 mg/L naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). The optimum biomass accumulation, based on the packed cell volume and dry weight, was found in the cell suspension culture augmented with 1 mg/L 2,4-D + 5 mg/L 2iP followed by 5 mg/L 2,4-D + 2.5 mg/L 2-iP. In addition, the study assessed the total phenolic, flavonoid and radical scavenging activity, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was also used to determine the content of polyphenols (apigenin, caffeic acid, catechin and kaempferol) quantitatively. Cell suspension cultures containing 5 mg/L 2,4-D and 2.5 mg/L 2iP yielded the maximum accumulation of phenolics, flavonoids and radical scavenging activity (90.65%), and also a significantly higher content of caffeic acid (37.1 µg/g DW). The present finding facilitates the scaling up and commercial production of polyphenols from date palm cell suspension culture. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Horticultural Natural Products)

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