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Health-Promoting Effects of Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Molecular Mechanism

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2025 | Viewed by 1422

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Baojun Xu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Food Science and Technology Program, Department of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University, Zhuhai 519087, China
Interests: food science; phytochemicals; nutraceuticals; pharmaceuticals; functional foods; molecular nutrition; cell biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Matteo Bordiga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dipartimento di Scienze del Farmaco, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “A. Avogadro”, Largo Donegani 2, 28100 Novara, Italy
Interests: food chemistry; gas chromatography; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; polyphenols; volatile compounds; wine chemistry; extraction; fermentation; prebiotic compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many plants are medicinal food homologs that are widely distributed worldwide and have been widely consumed. Medicinal and edible plants are rich in primary metabolites such as protein, dietary fiber, and carbohydrates and contain various secondary metabolites, including polyphenols, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, etc. The phytochemicals of medicinal and edible plants have been reported to have a wide range of health-promoting effects, including anti-cancer, anti-obesity, anti-Alzheimer's disease, and more. However, previous studies have not fully identified specific bioactive compounds contributing to health-promoting effects or their underlying molecular mechanisms. In this situation, a Special Issue collecting the latest developments and focusing on medicinal and edible plants' health-promoting effects and their molecular mechanisms will be very attractive to readers.

This Special Issue will provide new insights into medicinal and edible plants' health-promoting effects and molecular mechanisms. We encourage authors to submit original articles based on in vitro, in vivo, clinical trials, and reviews related to this attractive topic.

Prof. Dr. Baojun Xu
Dr. Matteo Bordiga
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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

  • medicinal plants
  • edible plants
  • health-promoting effect
  • molecular mechanism
  • phytochemicals
  • diseases
  • curing targets
  • signaling pathway

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1684 KiB  
Article
Harnessing Light Wavelengths to Enrich Health-Promoting Molecules in Tomato Fruits
by Bruno Hay Mele, Ermenegilda Vitale, Violeta Velikova, Tsonko Tsonev, Carolina Fontanarosa, Michele Spinelli, Angela Amoresano and Carmen Arena
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(12), 5712; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26125712 (registering DOI) - 14 Jun 2025
Abstract
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most consumed crops worldwide and a source of antioxidants. Given the role the latter play against oxidative stress and free radical-related diseases, enhancing tomato bioactive compound production would be appealing for a wide [...] Read more.
The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is one of the most consumed crops worldwide and a source of antioxidants. Given the role the latter play against oxidative stress and free radical-related diseases, enhancing tomato bioactive compound production would be appealing for a wide range of applications in the fields of nutrition, pharmacy, and biotechnology. This study explores a sustainable and innovative approach: the modulation of specific light spectra to boost the production of bioactive compounds in tomatoes (cultivar ‘Microtom’). We investigated how three light regimes—white fluorescent (FL), full-spectrum (FS), and red-blue (RB)—influence the accumulation of polyphenols and other key nutraceuticals during plant growth. Our findings reveal that full-spectrum (FS) light significantly enhances the levels of polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, ascorbic acid, and lycopene in tomato fruits, compared to those grown under RB or FL light. Interestingly, fruits from RB light-grown plants showed the highest carotenoid concentrations and antioxidant capacity. These results suggest that light quality actively modulates the expression of key enzymes in the phenylpropanoid and flavonoid biosynthetic pathways, shaping each fruit’s unique metabolic fingerprint. Cluster analysis confirmed that RB, FL, and FS conditions lead to distinct polyphenolic profiles, each with notable health-promoting potential. Our results highlight a promising avenue: tailoring light environments to enhance the functional value of crops, bridging agriculture, nutrition, and biomedicine in a sustainable way. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Promoting Effects of Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Molecular Mechanism)
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19 pages, 10425 KiB  
Article
Uncovering Key Genes Associated with the Short-Winged Trait in Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Through Re-Sequencing and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWASs)
by Haitian Yu, Chaoqin Hu, Xin Yang, Qiong Li, Yubao Wang, Zhengming Dai, Jie Cun, Aiqing Zheng, Yanhua Jiang, Qinfang Wang, Meiyuan Lv, Feng Yang and Yuhua He
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(6), 2733; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26062733 - 18 Mar 2025
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Abstract
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a globally significant legume valued for its applications in food, vegetables, and green manure, yet its high outcrossing rate (30–80%) poses challenges for production development. A rare short-winged trait identified in Yunnan, China, offers promise for [...] Read more.
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is a globally significant legume valued for its applications in food, vegetables, and green manure, yet its high outcrossing rate (30–80%) poses challenges for production development. A rare short-winged trait identified in Yunnan, China, offers promise for developing low-outcrossing varieties, reducing outcrossing rates to below 5%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses revealed that the epidermal cells of normal wing petals are conical, while those of short-wing petals are tubular. This study examined 200 F2 lines from crosses between ‘K0692’ (short-winged) and ‘Yundou 1183’, as well as ‘Yundoulvxin 1’ (short-winged) and ‘Yundou 1183’. The GWASs identified 10 SNP loci across chromosomes 2, 3, 4, and 5, with SNP_chr4::1013887633 explaining 22.20% of the wing trait variation. Key candidate genes were identified, such as VFH_III145120, which influences floral identity; and VFH_III149200, associated with epidermal differentiation. GO enrichment analysis demonstrated significant gene involvement in RNA localization, ribosome biogenesis, and preribosome metabolism, while KEGG analysis linked these genes to pathways in amino acid, nucleotide, and purine metabolism; ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis; and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. These findings lay a foundation for breeding low-outcrossing faba bean varieties and enhancing sustainable faba bean cultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health-Promoting Effects of Medicinal and Edible Plants and Their Molecular Mechanism)
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