Health Benefits of Microbial or Plant-Derived Bioactive Compounds and Their Secondary Metabolites

Dear Colleagues,

Healthy and meaningful eating habits are fundamental to maintaining fitness and immunity, and are a relevant topic in fields such as food, medicinal food, nutrition, natural medicine, nutraceuticals, herbs, prebiotics, and probiotics for higher-class organisms. Nevertheless, it remains relatively complicated to maintain these habits in daily life. From the beginning of life, the consumption of food facilitates the development of immunity. The old Chinese saying “bìng cóng koǔ rù, huàn cóng kǒu chū" (a life perspective) means that the occurrence of diseases depends on what you eat, and they can occur due to excessive consumption. Hence, the evolution of animals with a “jaw” who can open their mouths to eat “more and diverse” foods can be explained by the reliance of higher-class organisms on acquired immunity, in order to prepare ahead and to memorize and develop tolerances to certain foods in nature. There are fundamental differences in the nutrient uptake of higher-class organisms (such as humans) compared to primitive lifeforms such as microbes in terms of “consuming” or “eating” food in pursuit of health. Food consumption overall has slowed down with the development of ligand–receptor/structure–function relationships, as well as neuronal and physical innervations, through evolution in the face of resource competition. Therefore, "eating" has replaced "consuming" in higher classes of living things in the diverse natural world. Learning and teaching what to eat has become instinctive and embedded in culture and tradition across generations (from parents to their offspring). The acquisition of necessary nutrients through eating choices satisfies people’s overall physiological needs, thus enabling them to maintain health and sound immunity, habitually coming back to the circle of life.

In this Special Issue of Life, we welcome articles and reviews conveying ideas, hypotheses, findings, new discoveries, knowledge and wisdom on maintaining a healthy life, a healthy body and a healthy environment. Specifically, we will focus on intra- and inter-species connections, relationships with natural chemical compounds, secondary metabolites in microbiology, toxicology, immunology, nutritional sciences, health sciences, and clinical implications.

Dr. Brian Bor-Chun Weng
Dr. Chia-Wen Hsieh
Guest Editors

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