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Current Research on Plants as Natural Antioxidants

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 2676

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural product antioxidants are widely distributed in nature, especially in plants, vegetables, and fruits. Studies have shown that natural products such as plant-active selenium, flavonoids, polyphenols, saponins, and vitamins can effectively scavenge free radicals to protect human health. Finding new antioxidants from natural products that scavenge free radicals in the body has become an inevitable trend in the development of modern medicine and healthcare industries.

This Special Issue aims to study, at a molecular level, the mechanisms of action derived from plants’ bioactive natural compounds to provide a reference for the research and development of the antioxidant activity of natural products. Please note, the exact active ingredient of natural origin extract must be reported in the manuscript, since papers describing the effects of mixed extraction from natural origin are not in the scope of the journal.

Dr. Viviana Maresca
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.

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Keywords

  • plant-derived antioxidant
  • natural products
  • polyphenols
  • oxidative stress

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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15 pages, 4043 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant, Antidiabetic, and Vasorelaxant Effects of Ethanolic Extract from the Seeds of Swietenia humilis
by Elizabeth Alejandrina Guzmán Hernández, Gladys Chirino Galindo, Rubén San Miguel Chávez, Patricia Castro Moreno, Maximiliano Ibarra Barajas, Tomás Ernesto Villamar Duque, Anayantzin Paulina Heredia Antúnez, Leonardo del Valle Mondragón, Gil Alfonso Magos Guerrero and David Segura Cobos
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(5), 2063; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26052063 - 27 Feb 2025
Viewed by 521
Abstract
Arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus are components of the cardiometabolic syndrome that arises from a sedentary lifestyle, excess calorie intake, and obesity. Swietenia humilis Zucc has been used in traditional Mexican medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus; this work investigated the antioxidant, [...] Read more.
Arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus are components of the cardiometabolic syndrome that arises from a sedentary lifestyle, excess calorie intake, and obesity. Swietenia humilis Zucc has been used in traditional Mexican medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus; this work investigated the antioxidant, antidiabetic, and vasorelaxant effects of ethanolic extract of S. humilis seeds. The phytochemical composition of the extract was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography. To study the hypoglycemic effect, the activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase) and markers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxy-2-desoxyguanosine) were evaluated in the model of diabetes mellitus induced by nicotinamide and streptozotocin in rats. The vasodilatory effect of the extract was tested in rat aortic rings. The ethanolic extract of seeds of Swietenia humilis showed antioxidant, hypoglycemic, and endothelium-independent vasorelaxant effects, probably by blocking calcium transport, likely due to ursolic acid and α-amyrin, phytochemical compounds more abundant in the extract. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Plants as Natural Antioxidants)
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18 pages, 2987 KiB  
Article
Antioxidant Activity and Structural Characterization of Anthocyanin–Polysaccharide Complexes from Aronia melanocarpa
by Jie Wang, Jingyi Wang, Jiahui Hao, Miao Jiang, Congcong Zhao and Ziluan Fan
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(24), 13347; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252413347 - 12 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 902
Abstract
Anthocyanins and polysaccharides are among the primary components of numerous foodstuffs, and their interaction exerts a considerable influence on the texture and nutritional value of foods. In order to improve the antioxidant properties and stability of anthocyanins as well as their bioavailability, in [...] Read more.
Anthocyanins and polysaccharides are among the primary components of numerous foodstuffs, and their interaction exerts a considerable influence on the texture and nutritional value of foods. In order to improve the antioxidant properties and stability of anthocyanins as well as their bioavailability, in this study, anthocyanin–polysaccharide complexes with varying compounding ratios (1:0.5, 1:1.0, 1:1.5, 1:2.0, 1:2.5, 1:3.0) were prepared from Aronia melanocarpa anthocyanins and polysaccharides derived from the fruit pomace of Aronia melanocarpa. These compounds were characterized, and their antioxidant capacity was determined. The findings demonstrated that the antioxidant activity of anthocyanins was markedly enhanced through the process of compounding with polysaccharides. The most efficacious antioxidant effect was determined by measuring the IC50 of the antioxidant activity of mixtures at different anthocyanin/polysaccharide complexing ratios. The results of ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy revealed the features of the anthocyanin–polysaccharide complexes with ratios of 1:0.5, 1:1.0, 1:1.5, and 1:2.5. The anthocyanins and polysaccharides were observed to enhance the intensity of ultraviolet absorption with respect to that of the individual molecules, and it was noted that they were able to bond to each other through hydrogen bonding. Additionally, the morphology of the compositions differed from that of the individual components. This provides a theoretical foundation for the structural design of anthocyanin–polysaccharide-containing foods and the development and utilization of novel food ingredients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Research on Plants as Natural Antioxidants)
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