Nutraceuticals and Biological Activity of Medicinal and Food Plants on Improving Human Well Being
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 8271
Special Issue Editors
Interests: biomolecules and biochemistry of natural products (tannin content; phenolic composition and antioxidant capacity of indigenous plants foods/feeds); toxicology and mutagenicity of medicinal plants; foods/feeds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: phytochemistry to elucidate plant; crop growth and quality
Interests: Medicinal plants; natural product research; nutraceuticals; cosmeceuticals; medical research
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Medicinal plants are a rich source of nutraceutical and pharmacological compounds including polyphenols, carotenoids, alkaloids, and sulfur-containing compounds. These compounds are associated with biological activity (e.g., anti-bacterial, anti- inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer) and offer protection against various chronic diseases (Kumar et al., 2021; Moremi et al., 2021; Saha et al., 2013). The biological activities of medicinal plants are gaining interest in the ethno-therapeutic industry due to their reported effectiveness in comparison to chemically synthesized medicines. In fact, the usage of medicinal plant extracts has been advocated to reduce build-up of microbial biofilms and resistance against causal agents, and to reduce the negative side effects that may be detrimental to human health. For example, the use of medicinal plants to develop natural antiseptics for oral health has been associated with reduced periodontal diseases. The chemical composition of Dichrostachys cinere L. (a South African medicinal plant), which is often used as a chewing stick to treat toothache (Akhalwaya et al., 2018), was found to be dominated by glycosides, saponins, tannins, amino acids, and terpenoids from the leaves and saponins, tannins, steroids, and cyanoglycosides from the stems (Kolapo et al., 2008; Lavanya & Ambikapathy, 2016;Tinga et al., 2021; Vijayalakshmi et al., 2013). These nutraceutical compounds were then associated with inhibiting spore germination and demonstrated an antimicrobial activity towards common oral pathogens including Streptococcus and Staphylococcus saprophyticus (Kolapo et al., 2008). Therefore, this Special Issue aims to document the efficiency of medicinal plant extracts on the treatment and prevention of various human aliments and diseases.
Dr. Ashwell Ndhlala
Dr. Semakaleng Mpai
Dr. Vuyisile S. Thibane
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- functional foods
- nutraceutical compounds
- pharmacological compounds