South American Native Species as Sources of Bioactive Compounds: Opportunities and Challenges
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Bio-derived Molecules".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editors
Interests: bioactive compounds and health; native species; traditional foods
Interests: extraction; chromatography; phenolic compounds; green chemistry
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
South America is a global hotspot of biodiversity, hosting approximately 40% of the Earth’s species and more than 20,000 endemic plants. These species flourish in a wide variety of ecosystems, including the Amazon Rainforest, Pantanal wetlands, Andean Mountains, Atlantic Forest, and Patagonian Region. Many of them are edible and are increasingly recognized as valuable resources for building sustainable food systems. Particularly, native fruits and other plant-based resources have drawn scientific interest due to their unique nutritional and bioactive properties, with growing evidence of their beneficial effects on human health.
This Special Issue, “South American Native Species as Sources of Bioactive Compounds: Opportunities and Challenges”, aims to bring together cutting-edge research exploring the functional potential of bioactive compounds from South American native species. We invite original research articles, reviews, and short communications focusing on:
- Chemical characterization of bioactive compounds from native plants and foods;
- Bioaccessibility, bioavailability, and metabolism of bioactives in different consumption forms;
- Biological and health-promoting applications, including mechanistic insights and potential therapeutic roles;
- Technological innovations in the extraction, processing, and valorization of bioactive-rich species;
- Sustainability and biodiversity conservation perspectives linked to functional food development.
By highlighting advances in the discovery, characterization, and application of these compounds, this Special Issue will contribute to a deeper understanding of how South American biodiversity can support nutrition, health, and sustainable development.
We welcome submissions from multidisciplinary fields, including food chemistry, nutrition, pharmacology, biotechnology, and natural products research.
Dr. Andressa Mara Baseggio
Prof. Dr. Maurício Ariel Rostagno
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. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2700 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
- South American biodiversity
- bioactive compounds
- chemical characterization
- health properties
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