Exploring the Antioxidant Efficacy of Natural Products

Dear Colleagues,

Nature constitutes an inexhaustible source of health-beneficial molecules. For centuries, nature has served as source of food and feed, but also has been the inspiration for the development of diverse medicinal, cosmetic, and neutraceutical preparations, all composed of molecules and extracts isolated from the large reservoir of natural products. A common feature of these natural origin products is their capability to act as strong antioxidants that inhibit the oxidation of various biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, DNA, etc., by blocking the propagation of the oxidative chain reactions, acting either as free radical scavengers and/or by preventing the formation of free radicals.

Today, in response to the growing public demand for the adoption of a “healthier” lifestyle, the industry and academia have initiated a vigorous research effort towards the exploitation of plant-origin molecules and/or extracts aiming at the discovery of novel, safer, bioactive substances and/or preparations displaying the capacity to prevent or retard the development of various illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, various types of cancer, etc. For this purpose, a broad variety of strategies and resources are being exploited either in the form of phytochemical investigation of wild-growing or cultivated plant biomass or, in the terms of circular economy, the utilization of waste derived from diverse agro-industrial procedures or wide-scale cultivations.

These endeavors have the common objective of researching new plant molecules with strong antioxidant properties, as well as the development of novel molecules and preparations of natural or synthetic origin. Similarly, novel approaches, methods, and/or techniques exploit the upcycling of agricultural side streams, with special attention on the phytochemical content of the derivatives and main target their antioxidant properties. The final goal is the market integration of novel pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, neutraceuticals, and food and feed additives complying with the standards set by the contemporary medicinal and food manufacturing industries. In this respect, as plausible for inclusion, all of the previously described research endeavors, targeting any of the previous priorities, are considered.

Prof. Dr. Serkos A. Haroutounian
Dr. Dimitrios Arapoglou
Dr. Epameinondas Evergetis
Guest Editors

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