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Application of Traditional and Innovative Technologies for the Extraction of...
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Application of Traditional and Innovative Technologies for the Extraction of Biologically Active Compounds from Natural Food Resources

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 6186

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Stoja Milovanović

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11120 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: supercritical CO2 extraction; microwave pretreatments; ultrasonic extraction; conventional extraction technologies; extraction from plant materials; chemical analysis of extracts; polymer processing with supercritical CO2; polymer impregnation with bioactive components; polymeric materials characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ivana Lukić

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11120 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: supercritical CO2 extractions from plant material; conventional solvent extractions; supercritical CO2 application for polymer functionalization; natural bioactive compounds; material characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Agnieszka Grzegorczyk

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Guest Editor
Chair and Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Interests: assessment of antibacterial and antifungal activity in vitro of synthetic and plant compounds; antibacterial/antifungal drug discovery; bacteria/fungi and bacterial/fungal diseases; antimicrobial activities; experience in testing the purity and sterility of medical devices; experience in testing the formation of in vitro biofilms on biomaterials; very good practical knowledge in epidemiological studies on the transmission of microorganisms in the population and hospital environment, including testing the relationship of microbial strains using molecular biology techniques: PCR, PCR-RFLP, MLVF and PFGE
Dr. Łukasz Świątek

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Guest Editor
Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University, Chodźki 1, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Interests: assessment of antiviral activity; antiviral drug discovery; viruses and viral diseases; cell lines and cell-based assays; evaluation of cytotoxicity; anticancer drug screening; antimicrobial activities; biological activities of natural products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the latest advancements in extraction technologies aimed at recovering biologically active compounds from natural resources. Both conventional and modern extraction methods are welcomed, with technologies of interest including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Conventional Methods: cold pressing, maceration, percolation, Soxhlet-assisted extraction, and hydrodistillation;
  • Modern Methods: microwave extraction, ultrasound-assisted extraction, accelerated solvent extraction, supercritical CO2 extraction, deep eutectic solvent extraction, pulsed electric field extraction, ionic liquid extraction, and subcritical water extraction.

The primary focus will be on natural food resources such as plants, but alternative food sources like insects, marine-derived resources, or wastes from food industry will also be considered.

We invite research contributions where extraction is performed with the goal of producing valuable extracts rich in biologically active compounds, such as phenolics, flavonoids, tocopherols, and chlorophylls. Additionally, the biological activity of these extracts should be examined through at least one assay, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, or cytotoxicity tests. Please note that the results of docking analyses used for antiviral activity screening should be supported by in vitro tests. It would be appreciated if there was a correlation between different extraction procedures and the observed biological activity.

This Special Issue seeks to bring together novel insights into the application of both established and emerging extraction technologies, aiming to enhance the quality, safety, and sustainability of food products.

Dr. Stoja Milovanović
Dr. Ivana Lukić
Dr. Agnieszka Grzegorczyk
Dr. Łukasz Świątek
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. Foods 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 2900 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

  • extraction technologies
  • plant food resources
  • edible insects and other non-plant resources
  • functional food production
  • total phenolic and flavonoid content
  • bioactive compounds
  • antioxidant activity
  • antimicrobial activity
  • antiviral activity
  • cytotoxicity

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 6808 KB  
Article
Improved Hybrid Percolation–Ultrasound Extraction of Bioactive Compounds and Their Application as Nettle and Sage-Derived Biostimulants in Tomato and Pepper Crops
by Ana-Maria Tăbărașu, Nicolae-Valentin Vlăduț, Florin Nenciu, Petru Cârdei, Iuliana Găgeanu, Luminița Catană, Mihaela Begea, Mihai-Gabriel Matache, Dragoș-Nicolae Anghelache, Ioan-Cătălin Persu and Teofil-Alin Oncescu
Foods 2025, 14(22), 3900; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14223900 - 14 Nov 2025
Viewed by 522
Abstract
The present research aimed to improve the extraction efficiency of polyphenolic compounds from nettle and sage, using an improved hybrid ultrasound—percolation extraction method. A factorial experimental design was employed to systematically evaluate the influence of key extraction parameters: pressure (5, 6, and 7 [...] Read more.
The present research aimed to improve the extraction efficiency of polyphenolic compounds from nettle and sage, using an improved hybrid ultrasound—percolation extraction method. A factorial experimental design was employed to systematically evaluate the influence of key extraction parameters: pressure (5, 6, and 7 bar), extraction time (60, 90, and 120 min), and ultrasound power (80, 100, and 120 W) on the total polyphenol content (TPC) of the resulting extracts. The obtained extracts were comprehensively analyzed in terms of total polyphenol concentration, micro- and macronutrient content, and antioxidant activity. Based on the results, optimal extraction conditions were determined and subsequently used to formulate a biostimulant solution derived from nettle and sage. To validate the agronomic efficacy of the formulated biostimulant, greenhouse trials were conducted on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum) plants. The impact of the treatment was assessed by monitoring vegetative growth (total dry mass), chlorophyll content, and crop productivity. The central hypothesis is that systematic variation of the hybrid ultrasound-assisted percolation process parameters will reveal a range capable of significantly improving the polyphenol yield and antioxidant activity of nettle and sage extracts. We further used these improved extracts to increase certain health indicators and overall productivity in tomato and pepper plants. At the end of the growing period, the treated plants showed an increase in dry mass of 22% for tomatoes and 20% for peppers relative to controls samples. Furthermore, productivity showed a substantial increase, rising by 38.6% for tomatoes and 53% for peppers. Chlorophyll content also increased by up to 20% in tomatoes and up to 22% in peppers, showing better plant health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Traditional and Innovative Technologies for the Extraction of Biologically Active Compounds from Natural Food Resources)
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24 pages, 5268 KB  
Article
Comparison of the Potential of “Green” Classical and Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents in the Production of Natural Food Colorant Extracts from the Roots of Alkanna tinctoria (L.)
by Zvezdelina Yaneva, Neli Grozeva, Mima Todorova, Mariana Kamenova-Nacheva, Plamena Staleva, Neli Memdueva and Milena Tankova Tzanova
Foods 2025, 14(4), 584; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14040584 - 10 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2034
Abstract
Alkanna tinctoria L. Tausch (“alkanet” or “alkanna”) is a medicinal plant. Extracts from alkanet roots have applications as natural food coloring agents. In addition, they have proven antioxidant effects. Three classical solvents (ethanol and acidified ethanol/water) and four natural eutectic solvents (NADES)—choline chloride/urea; [...] Read more.
Alkanna tinctoria L. Tausch (“alkanet” or “alkanna”) is a medicinal plant. Extracts from alkanet roots have applications as natural food coloring agents. In addition, they have proven antioxidant effects. Three classical solvents (ethanol and acidified ethanol/water) and four natural eutectic solvents (NADES)—choline chloride/urea; choline chloride/citric acid; choline chloride/lactic acid; and sodium acetate/formic acid—were compared for their effectiveness as “green” solvents for the extraction of the alkanet pigment. Notably, this study is the first to apply choline chloride-based NADESs for alkanet extraction, providing a comprehensive profile of key bioactive compounds and their contributions to antioxidant activity using UV/Vis and FT-IR spectrometry, GC-MS, and HPLC-PDA-MS. Among the classical solvents, 50% acidified ethanol showed the highest extraction capacity, as indicated by its total flavonoid (708 ± 32 mgCE/L) and total phenolic (1318 ± 63 mgGAE/L) content. However, this extract exhibited the highest total alkaloid content (256 ± 15 µg/L) compared to the other classical extraction solvents. Consequently, absolute ethanol was identified as a more suitable alternative. Among the NADES, the sodium acetate/formic acid (1:2 mol/mol, NADES4) extract was the only one to show the presence of alkannins. This extract also contained high levels of phenols (355 ± 21 mg GAE/L) and tannins (163 ± 10 mg CE/L), exhibited strong antioxidant potential (DPPH: 131 µmol TE/g dw, FRAP: 7.49 mg Fe(II)/mg dw), and contained significantly lower alkaloid levels (7.0 ± 0.5 µg/L). Comparative analyses indicated that the sodium acetate/formic acid extract outperformed those prepared with ethanolic solvents and other NADES. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Traditional and Innovative Technologies for the Extraction of Biologically Active Compounds from Natural Food Resources)
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23 pages, 2768 KB  
Article
Optimizing Green Extraction Methods for Maximizing the Biological Potential of Dandelion, Milk Thistle, and Chamomile Seed Extracts
by Stoja Milovanovic, Katarzyna Tyśkiewicz, Marcin Konkol, Agnieszka Grzegorczyk, Kinga Salwa and Łukasz Świątek
Foods 2024, 13(23), 3907; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13233907 - 3 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2921
Abstract
This study investigates the underutilized potential of agri-crops from the Asteraceae family by employing sustainable and green technologies (supercritical fluid, ultrasound, and Soxhlet extractions) to enhance the recovery of bioactive compounds. A total of 21 extracts from native and waste seeds of dandelion, [...] Read more.
This study investigates the underutilized potential of agri-crops from the Asteraceae family by employing sustainable and green technologies (supercritical fluid, ultrasound, and Soxhlet extractions) to enhance the recovery of bioactive compounds. A total of 21 extracts from native and waste seeds of dandelion, milk thistle, and chamomile were systematically compared utilizing a combination of solvents (supercritical CO2 and absolute or aqueous ethanol). Supercritical CO2 extraction yielded up to 281 mg/g of oils from native seeds, while conventional techniques with ethanol recovered an additional 142 mg/g of extracts from waste seeds. Notably, waste seed extracts exhibited superior biological activity, including potent antioxidant properties (IC50 values as low as 0.3 mg/mL in the DPPH assay) and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against 32 microbial strains, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative bacteria, and yeast strains. Phenolic compounds were abundant, with up to 2126 mg GAE/g, alongside 25.9 mg QE/g flavonoids, and 805.5 mg/kg chlorophyll A. A selective anticancer activity of waste milk thistle extracts was observed, with a selectivity index of 1.9 to 2.7. The oils recovered from native seeds demonstrated lower bioactivity and are well-suited for applications in food. The potent bioactivity of the smaller quantities of waste seed extracts positions them as valuable candidates for pharmaceutical use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Traditional and Innovative Technologies for the Extraction of Biologically Active Compounds from Natural Food Resources)
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