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Applied Sciences
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Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Their Applications
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Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Their Applications

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 October 2026 | Viewed by 4412

Editor

Prof. Dr. Francisco Cruz-Sosa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departmento of Biotechnology, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Iztapalapa Campus, Av. Ferrocarril de San Rafael Atlixco 186, México City 09310, Mexico
Interests: plant cell cultures; secondary metabolites; biological activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants are an abundant source of specialized metabolites that play roles in plant growth and survival. The effects of secondary metabolites on the interactions between plants with microorganisms or other organisms are relevant for obtaining compounds with biological activity. Scientific advances in the isolation, obtaining, identification, and evaluation of the biological activities of secondary metabolites are one way to determine their applications. This Special Issue on “Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Their Applications” aims to evaluate the current state of the art in the study of secondary metabolites and their application due to their biological activity. 

We invite authors to submit original research articles and review articles covering (but not limited to) the following topics: the biological activity of plant extracts and their applications and the biological activity of extracts from plant cell cultures and their applications.

Prof. Dr. Francisco Cruz-Sosa
Guest Editor

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences 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 2400 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

  • biological activity
  • bioactive compounds
  • plant cell cultures
  • plant extracts
  • secondary metabolites

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 11631 KB  
Article
Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Targets the Allosteric Activation Site of Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT): Structural Basis and Consequences for NAD+ Metabolism in Aging
by Alessandro Medoro, Sergio Davinelli, Tassadaq Hussain Jafar, Truong Tan Trung, Ciro Costagliola, Gemma Caterina Maria Rossi and Giovanni Scapagnini
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(13), 6695; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16136695 - 4 Jul 2026
Viewed by 205
Abstract
NAD+ depletion is a defining feature of the aging cell, driven by a progressive decline in nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) activity, the rate-limiting enzyme of the NAD+ salvage pathway. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a plant-derived redox-active quinone cofactor, elevates intracellular NAD+ by [...] Read more.
NAD+ depletion is a defining feature of the aging cell, driven by a progressive decline in nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) activity, the rate-limiting enzyme of the NAD+ salvage pathway. Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), a plant-derived redox-active quinone cofactor, elevates intracellular NAD+ by a mechanism that remains incompletely understood. We employed an integrated in silico approach combining molecular docking, density functional theory (DFT), and 100 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to evaluate whether PQQ directly targets NAMPT. Docking against the NAMPT crystal structure (PDB: 7ENQ) yielded a binding free energy of −9.4 kcal/mol, with PQQ positioned in the allosteric activation site and forming hydrogen bonds at His191, Asp219, and Val242 together with π–π stacking at Tyr188, extending a known synthetic activator pharmacophore to a dietary ligand class. MM-GBSA analysis yielded binding free energy = −31.2 kcal/mol, confirming dominant electrostatic and van der Waals stabilization. In silico alanine mutagenesis of Tyr188 and Val242 reduced binding affinity to −7.2 and −7.0 kcal/mol respectively, with complete loss of allosteric-site contacts, validating the proposed mechanism computationally. DFT analysis revealed a HOMO–LUMO gap of 3.20 eV and electrophilicity index ω = 8.91 eV, consistent with non-covalent binding to nucleophilic residues. MD simulation confirmed retention of PQQ within the allosteric site over 100 ns. These data provide a structural and electronic framework for the NAD+-boosting activity of PQQ and a rationale for experimental validation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Their Applications)
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12 pages, 1310 KB  
Article
Residues of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Tea Infusions/Water Extracts as a Valuable Source of Tocotrienols: An Extraction Study
by Inga Mišina, Ingus Perkons, Aleksander Siger, Arianne Soliven and Paweł Górnaś
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 2047; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15042047 - 15 Feb 2025
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3025
Abstract
Hypericum perforatum L., commonly known as St. John’s wort, is a widely distributed herbaceous plant utilized in traditional and phytomedicinal applications, particularly for its hydrophilic bioactive compounds. It is often used for treating early depressive states. In this study, we focused on reporting [...] Read more.
Hypericum perforatum L., commonly known as St. John’s wort, is a widely distributed herbaceous plant utilized in traditional and phytomedicinal applications, particularly for its hydrophilic bioactive compounds. It is often used for treating early depressive states. In this study, we focused on reporting the tocotrienols—lipophilic phytochemicals with health-promoting properties—in St. John’s wort. H. perforatum flowerheads predominantly contained tocotrienols compared with tocopherols (54 and 30 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively). The major tocotrienols (T3) were δ-T3 and α-T3 (34.0 and 17.6 mg/100 g dry weight, respectively). Tocopherols and tocotrienols are lipophilic phytochemicals that cannot be present in St. John’s wort water extracts (tea infusions), but they can be recovered from the remaining residues of H. perforatum tea infusions by using hydroethanolic solutions. A 50.0% (v/v) hydroethanolic solution was not effective in the recovery of tocochromanols. The greatest increase in the extractability of tocochromanols was observed for 70.0–80.0% (v/v) hydroethanolic extracts, while increasing the ethanol concentration from 90.0% to 96.2% (v/v) only slightly improved extractability (not statistically significant). For each ethanol concentration, the recovery was proportionally higher for tocotrienols than for tocopherols. Residues of H. perforatum tea infusions can be proposed as valuable by-products rich in tocotrienols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Their Applications)
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