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Applied Biosciences
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Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition)
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Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Applied Biosciences (ISSN 2813-0464).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 5665

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Adriana Basile

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80126 Naples, Italy
Interests: plant cell; bryophytes; environmental pollution; response to stress; ultrastructure; molecular biology; biomarkers; bioactivities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Viviana Maresca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Science, Health, and Health Professions", Link Campus University, 00165 Rome, Italy
Interests: oxidative stress; antioxidant enzyme activity; moss; bryophytes; heavy metals; biological activity of secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alessia Postiglione

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli, Italy
Interests: plant stress; biomonitoring; protection against environmental stresses; phytoremediation; essentials oils; biological activity of secondary metabolites
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will collect original research dealing with the discovery and applications of plant natural compounds. Plants are incredible chemical factories. According to some estimates, at least ~100,000 secondary metabolites are now known to occur in 50,000 plant species, and ~4000 new secondary metabolites are being discovered every year from a variety of plant species (Thangraj, 2015). This huge amount of chemical diversity can provide molecules for nutraceutical, therapeutic, and general purposes, such as preservatives and natural dyes for food and dressing industries. Today, about 11% of the 252 drugs considered as basic and essential by the World Health Organization (WHO) are derived from flowering plants (Cragg and Newman 2013). The therapeutic potential of plants is known and has been codified by human cultures for millennia. Nowadays, researchers have isolated several compounds from different plant taxa (from bryophytes to angiosperms), which have demonstrated a wide range of biological activities: anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, analgesic, antipyretic, antiproliferative, and cytotoxic (Boustie and Grube, 2005; Shrestha and Clair, 2013). However, most of the research focused on in vitro testing, which has the obvious disadvantage of not reflecting how these molecules behave in living organisms. Furthermore, plants are of great interest in the food industry for many purposes. They can be used as nutraceuticals, flavoring, dressing, preservatives, or decontaminating agents or they are exploited for their biological effects on body parts. Natural plant compounds have another field of application in cosmetics, for example, botanical compounds are used as antiaging agents due to the interesting content of antioxidants.

The challenge is discovering and demonstrating the effectiveness of plant substances for any purpose, which demands great scientific research efforts to explore, discover, and share results in this immense field of scientific research.

Dr. Adriana Basile
Dr. Viviana Maresca
Dr. Alessia Postiglione
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Applied Biosciences is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1200 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

  • plant natural compounds
  • bioactivities
  • food industry
  • sustainability
  • cosmetics
  • secondary metabolites
  • antimicrobial
  • antiviral
  • anticancer
  • nutraceutics

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 305 KB  
Article
Impact of Apple Cold Storage on the Physicochemical and Bioactive Quality of Juice
by Ana-Marija Gotal Skoko, Ivana Flanjak, Dajana Gašo-Sokač, Martina Skendrović Babojelić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Tomac, Valentina Obradović and Ante Lončarić
Appl. Biosci. 2026, 5(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/applbiosci5020033 - 14 Apr 2026
Viewed by 426
Abstract
This study compared the quality and bioactive composition of cloudy apple juices produced from four traditional and four conventional apple cultivars immediately after harvest and following cold storage of the fruit at 4 °C for three and six months. Apples were harvested at [...] Read more.
This study compared the quality and bioactive composition of cloudy apple juices produced from four traditional and four conventional apple cultivars immediately after harvest and following cold storage of the fruit at 4 °C for three and six months. Apples were harvested at the ripening stage at the same criteria, stored as whole fruit, and processed into cloudy juice after harvest, three, and six months of storage. Physicochemical parameters and sugar composition were determined, while phenolic compounds were quantified by HPLC-PDA. Antioxidant activity, total phenolic, and flavonoid content were measured spectrophotometrically. All analyses were performed in technical triplicate. The results revealed notable differences between traditional and conventional cultivars. Juices produced from traditional apple cultivars exhibited significantly higher total polyphenol and flavonoid contents than those from conventional cultivars. Significant variations in catechin, myricetin, quercetin, and epigallocatechin levels were also observed among cultivars. The traditional apple cultivar ‘Mašanka’ showed higher concentrations of quercetin (0.09 ± 0.01 µg/mL), chlorogenic acid (486.58 ± 5.48 µg/mL), catechin (8.76 ± 0.54 µg/mL), epicatechin (20.22 ± 0.20 µg/mL), and phloridzin (13.48 ± 0.19 µg/mL) compared to the other cultivars. In contrast, conventional cultivars showed higher concentrations of myricetin and procyanidin B1. Moreover, the content of TA, sucrose, and glucose decreased, whereas pH, fructose, TSS (except for ‘Fuji’ and ‘Granny Smith’) increased. The TFC decreased in traditional apple cultivars, while it increased in conventional cultivars; however, the TFC in conventional cultivars remained lower than in traditional ones. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the cold storage of apples significantly affects juice composition and highlight the advantages of traditional apple cultivars for producing juices with enhanced phenolic content and antioxidant activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition))
14 pages, 670 KB  
Communication
Effect of Feeding Lactic Acid Bacteria from Agave in Caenorhabditis elegans Lifespan, Heat Shock and Acute Oxidative Stress
by Vania Lizett Lucas-Hernández, Liliana Lugo-Zarate, Diana Patricia Olivo-Ramírez, Estefani Yaquelin Hernández-Cruz, José Pedraza-Chaverri and Angélica Saraí Jiménez-Osorio
Appl. Biosci. 2026, 5(2), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/applbiosci5020027 - 2 Apr 2026
Viewed by 345
Abstract
The food industry has a strong interest in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) because of their probiotic potential and health advantages. LAB have been previously isolated from pulque and agave sap, showing antibacterial action. However, their reaction to stress can limit their survivability, and [...] Read more.
The food industry has a strong interest in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) because of their probiotic potential and health advantages. LAB have been previously isolated from pulque and agave sap, showing antibacterial action. However, their reaction to stress can limit their survivability, and their biological activities are strain-specific. To ascertain the impact of LAB isolated from pulque and agave sap on lifespan, thermal and oxidative stress, and health span parameters, we fed the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans these bacteria. The nematodes fed the Escherichia coli OP50 strain were utilized as a control for each experiment. Animals were fed each strain for four days starting from L4 and either (day 5) exposed to oxidative stress caused by high hydrogen peroxide concentrations (8 mM) or acute heat stress (35 °C) for four hours. The strains Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum significantly improved lifespan, fertility, movement, and heat shock resistance. Lacticaseibacillus casei enhanced the C. elegans lifespan, and Levilactobacillus brevis only increased its survivability in the heat shock studies. Interestingly, we discovered a harmful impact on animals fed Pediococcus acidilactici. This study highlights that, even when strains come from the same plant source, their biological activity might differ significantly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition))
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14 pages, 1816 KB  
Article
Sage Essential Oil as a Natural Antigenotoxic Agent: Comet Assay Findings and Pharmacological Relevance
by Sara Diogo Gonçalves, Igor Koval, Rita S. Matos and Ana Caramelo
Appl. Biosci. 2025, 4(4), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/applbiosci4040054 - 19 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1015
Abstract
Oxidative stress is a major contributor to genomic instability and a key factor in the etiology of various chronic diseases. Natural compounds with antioxidant and DNA-protective properties are increasingly being explored as potential preventive agents. In this study, we investigated the antigenotoxic potential [...] Read more.
Oxidative stress is a major contributor to genomic instability and a key factor in the etiology of various chronic diseases. Natural compounds with antioxidant and DNA-protective properties are increasingly being explored as potential preventive agents. In this study, we investigated the antigenotoxic potential of Salvia sclarea L. (sage) essential oil in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress. The DNA damage was assessed using the in vivo Comet assay, and five concentrations of sage essential oil (0.2–3%) were evaluated, both with and without co-exposure to H2O2. The results show a dose-dependent reduction in DNA damage in cells treated with the essential oil, with significant protection observed at all tested concentrations. Chemical characterization of the essential oil revealed a high content of linalyl acetate (62.63%) and linalool (22.22%), compounds known for their antioxidant activities. These findings demonstrate the antigenotoxic capacity of S. sclarea essential oil and strengthen the evidence supporting its role as a natural agent capable of protecting human cells from oxidative DNA damage. The study contributes to the growing body of evidence on essential oils as multifunctional bioactive agents and highlights the importance of incorporating natural compounds into strategies aimed at mitigating oxidative DNA damage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition))
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Review

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38 pages, 4852 KB  
Review
Harnessing the Anticancer Potential of Plant Alkaloids Through Green Extraction Technologies
by Latifa Bouissane, Sohaib Khatib, Reda El Boukhari, Valérie Thiery and Ahmed Fatimi
Appl. Biosci. 2026, 5(2), 23; https://doi.org/10.3390/applbiosci5020023 - 27 Mar 2026
Viewed by 778
Abstract
Cancer is an alarming health concern and economic burden in both developed and developing countries. Recently, there has been a growing demand for new alternative medications with more effectiveness and fewer harmful effects. During the past decades, a set of chemotherapeutic agents has [...] Read more.
Cancer is an alarming health concern and economic burden in both developed and developing countries. Recently, there has been a growing demand for new alternative medications with more effectiveness and fewer harmful effects. During the past decades, a set of chemotherapeutic agents has been developed to fight against a large spectrum of cancer types. Unfortunately, their use is associated with a high level of toxicity; they are expensive, also, and their deployment is restricted by the emergence of cellular resistance. Plant-based components are garnering attention due to their low toxicity, selectivity, efficiency, and ease of accessibility. Alkaloids are one of these targeted compounds. Indeed, they are a highly diverse group with basic heterocyclic nitrogen-containing alkaloids that exhibit potent anticancer effects against a large panel of solid and liquid tumors, such as lung, breast, leukemia, liver, and colon cancer. The main molecular mechanisms involved in alkaloids’ anticancer effect are the induction of apoptosis via the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways, DNA damage, and the inhibition of cell cycle progression. Amazingly, these auspicious compounds exhibited strenuous inhibitory effects against a whole range of key enzymes involved in cancer progression and metastasis, such as Cytochrome P450 (CYP450), Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2), Lysine-Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1), Poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase (PARP), and topoisomerase, mainly through two action modes, namely irreversible and reversible inhibition. Furthermore, several conventional extraction methods have been developed to extract bioactive compounds from natural matrices, such as Soxhlet and hot water extraction. However, these techniques have many drawbacks, as they require a large amount of organic solvents, which not only affect human health but also generate severe environmental issues. To overcome these limitations, multiple eco-extraction techniques have emerged as potential alternatives to traditional extraction methods such as ultrasonic extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and supercritical fluid extraction. In fact, they are considered eco-friendly and efficient technologies with less time and solvent consumption. Overall, this review aims to provide an updated overview of the most prominent anticancer alkaloids that have not been well reviewed already, as well as the main green extraction techniques relevant to the extraction of antineoplastic alkaloids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition))
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15 pages, 1343 KB  
Review
Plant Latex Proteases in Hemostasis: Beyond Thrombin-like Activity
by Linesh-Kumar Selvaraja and Siti-Balqis Zulfigar
Appl. Biosci. 2025, 4(3), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/applbiosci4030037 - 1 Aug 2025
Viewed by 1843
Abstract
Plant latex is a rich source of proteolytic enzymes with potential biomedical applications, particularly in hemostasis. Among them, thrombin-like enzymes (TLEs) have garnered interest in their ability to mimic thrombin by catalyzing the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin, facilitating clot formation. While TLEs [...] Read more.
Plant latex is a rich source of proteolytic enzymes with potential biomedical applications, particularly in hemostasis. Among them, thrombin-like enzymes (TLEs) have garnered interest in their ability to mimic thrombin by catalyzing the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin, facilitating clot formation. While TLEs from snake venoms have been well-characterized and applied clinically, their plant-derived counterparts remain underexplored. This review critically examines the structural and functional characteristics of TLEs from plant latex, comparing them to animal-derived TLEs and evaluating their role in both procoagulant and fibrinolytic processes. Emphasis is placed on dual fibrinogenolytic and fibrinolytic activities exhibited by latex proteases, which often vary with concentration, incubation time, and protease type. In vitro coagulation assays and electrophoretic analyses are discussed as critical tools for characterizing their multifunctionality. By addressing the knowledge gaps and proposing future directions, this paper positions plant latex proteases as promising candidates for development in localized hemostatic and thrombolytic therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Natural Compounds: From Discovery to Application (2nd Edition))
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