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Plant-Derived Bioactives: Antioxidant Mechanisms and Preventive Health Strategies

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 October 2025 | Viewed by 108

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Science and the Environment, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, Corner Brook, NL A2H 5G4, Canada
Interests: food metabolomics; food chemistry; byproducts of the agrifood sector; gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS); gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID); liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS); sensory analysis
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue examines the emerging applications of plant-derived bioactive compounds for human health promotion, exploring their antioxidant effects and preventive health applications. Plant bioactive compounds, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, carotenoids, and terpenoids, demonstrate strong antioxidant properties that protect cells from oxidative stress and damage. The development of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disorders, cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases, is linked to oxidative stress. The protective mechanisms of these bioactive compounds require full elucidation to effectively facilitate their use in health-promoting interventions. This Special Issue seeks to examine current research about plant-derived bioactive substances, including their identification, characterization, and their mechanisms of action. This Special Issue will demonstrate how these substances contribute to creating preventive health strategies and therapeutic applications. We welcome submissions of original research and review articles.

Topics for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Identification of plant-derived bioactive compounds with antioxidant potential.
  • Bioactivity and mechanisms of action of plant-derived bioactive compounds.
  • Antioxidant activities, bioavailability, and clinical potential of plant-derived bioactives for disease prevention.
  • Application of plant-derived bioactives in functional food development.
  • Innovative and sustainable extraction techniques for the recovery of plant-derived bioactives.

Dr. Charles Manful
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 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

  • antioxidant
  • plant-derived bioactive compounds
  • flavonoids
  • oxidative stress
  • mechanisms of action

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

42 pages, 1407 KiB  
Review
Antioxidants and Reactive Oxygen Species: Shaping Human Health and Disease Outcomes
by Charles F. Manful, Eric Fordjour, Dasinaa Subramaniam, Albert A. Sey, Lord Abbey and Raymond Thomas
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(15), 7520; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26157520 (registering DOI) - 4 Aug 2025
Abstract
Reactive molecules, including oxygen and nitrogen species, serve dual roles in human physiology. While they function as essential signaling molecules under normal physiological conditions, they contribute to cellular dysfunction and damage when produced in excess by normal metabolism or in response to stressors. [...] Read more.
Reactive molecules, including oxygen and nitrogen species, serve dual roles in human physiology. While they function as essential signaling molecules under normal physiological conditions, they contribute to cellular dysfunction and damage when produced in excess by normal metabolism or in response to stressors. Oxidative/nitrosative stress is a pathological state, resulting from the overproduction of reactive species exceeding the antioxidant capacity of the body, which is implicated in several chronic human diseases. Antioxidant therapies aimed at restoring redox balance and preventing oxidative/nitrosative stress have demonstrated efficacy in preclinical models. However, their clinical applications have met with inconsistent success owing to efficacy, safety, and bioavailability concerns. This summative review analyzes the role of reactive species in human pathophysiology, the mechanisms of action of antioxidant protection, and the challenges that hinder their translation into effective clinical therapies in order to evaluate potential emerging strategies such as targeted delivery systems, precision medicine, and synergistic therapeutic approaches, among others, to overcome current limitations. By integrating recent advances, this review highlights the value of targeting reactive species in the prevention and management of chronic diseases. Full article
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