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Applied Sciences
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New Insights into Bioactive Compounds
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New Insights into Bioactive Compounds

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 4841

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eva Dorta

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Canario de Investigaciones Agrarias, 38400 San Cristobal de La Laguna, Spain
Interests: antioxidant capacity; food extracts; fruit wastes and by-products; polyphenols; antifungal activity; meat proteins; bioactive peptides
Dr. José Ignacio Alonso-Esteban

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Alcalá, Carretera Madrid-Barcelona, Km 33.600, 28805 Madrid, Spain
Interests: edible plants; nutrients; antinutrients; bioactive compounds; biological properties
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. M. Gloria Lobo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Crop Production in Tropical and Subtropical Areas, Instituto Canario de Insvestigaciones Agrarias, 38270 Valle de Guerra, Spain
Interests: postharvest; food technology; quality; bioactive compounds; ripening; waste valorization; tropical fruits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As Guest Editors, we would like to invite you and your colleagues to contribute either a review or original research article to the Special Issue “New Insights into Bioactive Compounds” to be published in Applied Sciences (IF: 2.7, JCR - Q2 (Engineering, Multidisciplinary)).

Bioactive compounds are in most cases non-essential compounds (e.g., phenolic compounds, terpenoids, flavonoids, betalains) that occur in nature, are part of the food chain, and can be shown to have a beneficial effect on human health. Researchers have shown interest in finding safe and efficient bioactive compounds to reduce the risk of several diseases. In addition, the methods for obtaining bioactive compounds must now be environmentally friendly. In this sense, the search for bioactive compounds from natural products derived from terrestrial or marine plants and animals, as well as their by-products, represents a continuous area of interest.

We expect to open a discussion and to collect novel investigations in the field. For such aims, principal topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • By-products;
  • Phenolic compounds;
  • Terpenoids;
  • Functional ingredients;
  • Green chemistry;
  • New extraction procedures;
  • Microbiological compounds;
  • Enzymatic processes;
  • Food.

You may submit your manuscript now or by the deadline “30 November 2024”.

All submissions are peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will be published online shortly thereafter.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Dr. Eva Dorta
Dr. José Ignacio Alonso-Esteban
Dr. M. Gloria Lobo
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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 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

  • by-products
  • phenolic compounds
  • green chemistry
  • antioxidants
  • bioactive compounds

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2727 KiB  
Article
Pyranine as Probe to Assess Antioxidant Activity of Free and Peptide Tryptophan and Tyrosine Residues Towards Peroxyl Radicals
by Angie C. Forero-Girón, Margarita E. Aliaga and Camilo López-Alarcón
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(8), 4241; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15084241 - 11 Apr 2025
Viewed by 204
Abstract
Competitive reactions between additives and probes towards peroxyl radicals (ROO•) are usually employed to determine the antioxidant activity (AC) of bioactive peptides. In this work, we investigated the AC of free and peptide Trp and Tyr residues, employing pyranine (PYR) as [...] Read more.
Competitive reactions between additives and probes towards peroxyl radicals (ROO•) are usually employed to determine the antioxidant activity (AC) of bioactive peptides. In this work, we investigated the AC of free and peptide Trp and Tyr residues, employing pyranine (PYR) as the probe and AAPH (2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride) as the ROO• source. Solutions containing PYR and 10 mM AAPH were incubated at 37 °C in the absence and presence of additives. The initial consumption rates (R0) of PYR (5 µM) were affected by the type of peptide, with free Trp showing a higher effect than short peptides (R0 = Gly-Trp > Gly-Trp-Gly > Trp-Gly > free Trp), while the order of R0 of Tyr residues was as follows: free Tyr ~ Tyr-Tyr-Tyr > Gly-Tyr. Experiments carried out at 1 µM PYR, and employing larger peptides showed that the AC of Trp and Tyr cannot be explained by a simple mechanism. While the generation of lag times in the kinetics would not be necessarily associated with PYR repairing, their absence would not exclusively reflect competition for ROO•. These results demonstrate that the AC of Trp and Tyr follows complex mechanisms, implying that particular care should be taken when amino acids and peptides are proposed as antioxidants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Bioactive Compounds)
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24 pages, 677 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Antioxidant, Antithrombotic and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of the Amphiphilic Bioactives from Greek Organic Starking Apple Juice and Its By-Products (Apple Pomace)
by Maria Vandorou, Christos Plakidis, Ilektra Maria Tsompanidou, Anna Ofrydopoulou, Katie Shiels, Sushanta Kumar Saha and Alexandros Tsoupras
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(5), 2807; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15052807 - 5 Mar 2025
Viewed by 684
Abstract
The anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic and antioxidant effects of extracts from both apple juice and apple by-products (apple pomace) of organic cultured Greek Starking apples were evaluated in vitro. All extracts were separated in their total amphiphilic compounds (TACs) and total lipophilic compounds (TLCs) and [...] Read more.
The anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic and antioxidant effects of extracts from both apple juice and apple by-products (apple pomace) of organic cultured Greek Starking apples were evaluated in vitro. All extracts were separated in their total amphiphilic compounds (TACs) and total lipophilic compounds (TLCs) and assessed for their total phenolic content (TPC), total carotenoid content (TCC) and antioxidant activities (by the DPPH, ABTS and FRAP assays), as well as for their anti-inflammatory potency against the thrombo-inflammatory mediator, platelet activating factor (PAF) and their antithrombotic effects against a standard platelet-agonist (ADP) in human platelets. The rich-in-TAC extracts showed much higher content in phenolics and carotenoids than the TLC extracts, which was also reflected by the much stronger antioxidant capacities observed in TAC. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy revealed the presence not only of phenolics and carotenoids but also of amphiphilic polar lipids (PLs) in TAC, the structural analysis of which with LC–MS further revealed a fatty acid composition favorable for unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) versus saturated ones (SFAs). The presence of such bioactive PLs that are rich in UFA within the TAC extracts of apple juice and apple pomace provide an explanation for the observed potent anti-inflammatory effects and antithrombotic properties of these extracts, mainly against the inflammatory pathway of PAF but also against platelet aggregation induced by ADP. Overall, these results further support the antioxidant, antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory potential of rich-in-TAC extracts from organic cultured apples and especially from their apple pomace by-products, which can further be utilized as sustainable bioactive ingredients in several functional products in a circular economy design. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Bioactive Compounds)
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22 pages, 2005 KiB  
Article
From Vine to Wine: Coloured Phenolics as Fingerprints
by Jesús Heras-Roger and Carlos Díaz-Romero
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(4), 1755; https://doi.org/10.3390/app15041755 - 9 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 607
Abstract
Anthocyanins are important bioactive compounds crucial for the sensory characteristics of red wines. Anthocyanin profiles of 205 monovarietal red wines from the Canary Islands were investigated. Eleven anthocyanins were identified and determined using HPLC-DAD. Anthocyanin concentrations of red wines produced in Canary Islands [...] Read more.
Anthocyanins are important bioactive compounds crucial for the sensory characteristics of red wines. Anthocyanin profiles of 205 monovarietal red wines from the Canary Islands were investigated. Eleven anthocyanins were identified and determined using HPLC-DAD. Anthocyanin concentrations of red wines produced in Canary Islands fell within the usual range observed in red wines from other regions. Red wines elaborated with international grape cultivars presented, in general, higher mean concentrations than those elaborated using autochthonous cultivars. The influence of grape cultivar, production island, denomination of origin, and wine aging on the anthocyanin concentration was studied, leading to the deduction that aging was the parameter with the highest influence. A high number of significant correlations between the anthocyanins determined were found out supporting a common organic synthetic way for these coloured phenolics. Application of multivariate analysis techniques, such as principal component analysis and discriminant analysis, tended to classify the red wine samples according to grape cultivar, geographical production areas, and aging. This study could contribute to the quality control and verification within the wine industry, which is an interesting tool in the prevention of fraud and for increasing consumer confidence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Bioactive Compounds)
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12 pages, 870 KiB  
Article
Two-Step Enzymatic Synthesis of Structured Triacylglycerols from ARASCO© and Coconut Oil
by Miguel Ángel Rincón-Cervera and José Luis Guil-Guerrero
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(24), 11576; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142411576 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 770
Abstract
Triacylglycerols containing medium-chain fatty acids at the sn-1,3 positions and a long-chain fatty acid at the sn-2 position (MLM-TAG) are of nutritional interest. However, they are scarce in common food sources and are usually synthesized by chemical or enzymatic methods. In [...] Read more.
Triacylglycerols containing medium-chain fatty acids at the sn-1,3 positions and a long-chain fatty acid at the sn-2 position (MLM-TAG) are of nutritional interest. However, they are scarce in common food sources and are usually synthesized by chemical or enzymatic methods. In this work, the enzymatic synthesis of MLM-TAG was attempted using sn-2 monoacylglycerols (sn-2 MAG) from the ethanolysis of an arachidonic acid-rich fraction from ARASCO and fatty acid ethyl esters from the ethanolysis of coconut oil as substrates. The highest yield of sn-2 MAG (23.3 mol%) was obtained after 1 h of ethanolysis with Novozym 435 lipase at 25 °C, and the best profile of the ethanolysis products of coconut oil was obtained after 24 h of reaction catalyzed by the lipase from Thermomyces lanuginosus. Regarding the enzymatic synthesis of structured TAG, the lipase from Rhizopus oryzae gave better results than those from Thermomyces lanuginosus and Rhizomucor miehei, with the sn-2 position mainly esterified with arachidonic acid (34.8%) and the sn-1,3 positions mainly esterified with capric and lauric acids (35.1%). This work focuses on a simple process for the enzymatic production of structured TAG without prior purification of the sn-2 MAG. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Bioactive Compounds)
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12 pages, 916 KiB  
Article
Development and Validation of a Simple Analytical Method to Quantify Tocopherol Isoforms in Food Matrices by HPLC–UV–Vis
by María Fernanda Arias-Santé, Sussi López-Puebla, Adriano Costa de Camargo, José Luis Guil-Guerrero and Miguel Ángel Rincón-Cervera
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(19), 8750; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14198750 - 27 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1899
Abstract
This study developed, validated, and tested a simple method for tocopherol analysis on five different food matrices (sunflower oil, mackerel fillets, almonds, spinach, and avocado pulp). Tocopherol extraction from foods was carried out by the Folch method and with n-hexane, and the [...] Read more.
This study developed, validated, and tested a simple method for tocopherol analysis on five different food matrices (sunflower oil, mackerel fillets, almonds, spinach, and avocado pulp). Tocopherol extraction from foods was carried out by the Folch method and with n-hexane, and the identification and quantification of tocopherol isoforms (α, β, γ, and δ) was performed using normal-phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet–visible detection (NP-HPLC–UV–Vis). The normal-phase column fully separated the four tocopherol isoforms in less than ten minutes. Linearity was shown to be excellent for the four isoforms in the assayed range (10–375 ppm, R2 > 0.99). Furthermore, the limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0.32 to 0.63 ppm, and from 1.08 to 2.11 ppm, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precision were assessed at different concentrations (10, 100, and 250 ppm) for each tocopherol isoform and they were within the range of acceptable values. Recovery rates were above 80% in most cases for all of the assayed food matrices, regardless of the extraction method (Folch solvents or n-hexane). α-Tocopherol was the main isoform found in all tested foods, and sunflower oil was the sample with the highest content, followed by almond, avocado pulp, mackerel fillet, and spinach. This method provides a convenient alternative for obtaining a complete profile of the four tocopherol isoforms in a variety of food matrices and for tracking the potential degradation kinetics of fortified foods during their processing and storage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Insights into Bioactive Compounds)
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