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Molecules
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Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities
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Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8751

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Shagufta Perveen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA
Interests: plant endophytes; LCMS; different biological activities of natural products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jiangnan Peng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA
Interests: natural product chemistry; structure elucidation; NMR metabolomics; mass metabolomics; HPLC method development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products are compounds isolated from different natural sources, such as plants, animals, microbes, insects, plant pathogens, endophytes and marine animals. These are known as secondary metabolites, since they are formed due to the enzymatic resections of primary metabolites (amino acids, sugars, vitamins, etc.). Currently, modern developments and techniques, such as UPLC, HPLC, SFC, QTOFMS, NMR and MASS metabolomics, have improved this field dramatically, allowing for more interesting novel findings with such advanced analytical techniques increasing researcher and scientist interest as well as enhancing the quality of work and research outputs. Natural products and their synthetic analogues have shown significant activities towards many diseases. Chemical constituents from different natural sources play important roles in combating different types of cancers, with several anticancer treatments having been derived from natural sources such as paclitaxel, etoposide, mitomycin C and actinomycin D. Many famous drugs, including digoxin, digitoxin, vinblastine, vincristine, quinine, morphine, physostigmine, aspirin, strychnine, emetine and tubocurarine, were also isolated from natural sources. The importance of natural products prompted us to arrange a Special Issue combining advancements and modern research related to isolation and structure elucidation, along with biological activities of extracts and secondary metabolites.

Dr. Shagufta Perveen
Dr. Jiangnan Peng
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. Molecules 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 2700 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

  • natural product chemistry
  • structure elucidation
  • NMR metabolomics
  • mass metabolomics
  • HPLC method development
  • plant endophytes
  • LCMS
  • different biological activities of natural products
  • novel methods to isolate and characterize active constituents
  • bioactive natural products
  • cytotoxic compounds

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

9 pages, 972 KiB  
Article
Isochlorogenic Acid Glucosides from the Arabian Medicinal Plant Artemisia sieberi and Their Antimicrobial Activities
by Khlood Jamal, Areej Al-Taweel, Sarah I. Bukhari, Raha Orfali, Nadine M. S. Moubayed, Jawaher Al-Qahtani, Hanan Aati, Orazio Taglialatela-Scafati, Jiangnan Peng and Shagufta Perveen
Molecules 2023, 28(22), 7460; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28227460 - 7 Nov 2023
Viewed by 860
Abstract
A phytochemical investigation of the stems of the Arabian plant Artemisia sieberi afforded three new isochlorogenic acid derivatives, namely isochlorogenic acid A-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside (1), isochlorogenic acid A-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside methyl ester (2), and isochlorogenic [...] Read more.
A phytochemical investigation of the stems of the Arabian plant Artemisia sieberi afforded three new isochlorogenic acid derivatives, namely isochlorogenic acid A-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside (1), isochlorogenic acid A-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside methyl ester (2), and isochlorogenic acid C-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside (3), obtained along with thirteen known secondary metabolites belonging to distinct structural classes. The structures of the new metabolites were elucidated by modern spectroscopic techniues based on high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-ESIMS) and 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). All isolated compounds were tested for their potential antimicrobial activity against four different bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), in addition to a fungal strain (Candida tropicalis), The results were expressed as the diameter of the clear zone (in millimetres) around each well. Compounds 1 and 3 (isochlorogenic acid A-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside and isochlorogenic acid C-3′-O-β-glucopyranoside, respectively) displayed remarkable antifungal effect and potent antibacterial activities against B. subtilis and S. aureus, respectively. 3α,4α-10β-trihydroxy-8α-acetyloxyguaian-12,6α-olide (6) and angelicoidenol 2-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (9) emerged as interesting dual antibacterial (selective on P. aeruginosa)/antifungal agents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities)
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19 pages, 5197 KiB  
Article
Multitarget Potential of Phytochemicals from Traditional Medicinal Tree, Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arnot as Potential Medicaments for Cardiovascular Disease: An In-Silico Approach
by Vikas Kumar, Nitin Sharma, Raha Orfali, Chirag N. Patel, Radwan Alnajjar, Rakshandha Saini, Anuradha Sourirajan, Prem Kumar Khosla, Kamal Dev and Shagufta Perveen
Molecules 2023, 28(3), 1046; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28031046 - 20 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1888
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arnot of the Combretaceae family is one of the most frequently approved and utilized medicinal trees in the traditional medicinal system, which was used for the [...] Read more.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight & Arnot of the Combretaceae family is one of the most frequently approved and utilized medicinal trees in the traditional medicinal system, which was used for the treatment of a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disorders. The present study aims to identify phytochemicals from T. arjuna, that do not exhibit any toxicity and have significant cardioprotective activity using an in-silico technique. Four different cardiovascular proteins, namely human angiotensin receptor (PDB ID: 4YAY), P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK, PDB ID: 4DLI), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-Co A) reductase (PDB ID: 1HW9), and human C-reactive protein (PDB ID: 1B09), were used as target proteins to identify potential inhibitors using a virtual screening of the phytochemicals in T. arjuna revealed casuarinin as a potential inhibitor of all selected target proteins with strong binding energy. Furthermore, MD simulations for a 100 ns time scale also revealed that most of the key protein contacts of all target proteins were retained throughout the simulation trajectories. Binding free energy calculations using the MM-GBSA approach also support a strong inhibitory effect of casuarinin on target proteins. Casuarinin’s effective binding to these proteins lays the groundwork for the development of broad-spectrum drugs as well as the understanding of the underlying mechanism against cardiovascular diseases through in vivo and clinical studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities)
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15 pages, 2505 KiB  
Article
Natural Antioxidants, Tyrosinase and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors from Cercis glabra Leaves
by Yueyue Lou, Ting Xu, Huaqiang Cao, Qiuyue Zhao, Pengpai Zhang and Penghua Shu
Molecules 2022, 27(24), 8667; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27248667 - 7 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1586
Abstract
Cercis glabra is a plant belonging to the legume family, whose flowers and barks are commonly used as food and traditional Chinese medicines. However, its leaves are usually disposed of as wastes. This research comprehensively investigated the bioactive constituents of C. glabra leaves, [...] Read more.
Cercis glabra is a plant belonging to the legume family, whose flowers and barks are commonly used as food and traditional Chinese medicines. However, its leaves are usually disposed of as wastes. This research comprehensively investigated the bioactive constituents of C. glabra leaves, and two new phenolic, ceroffesters A-B (1–2) and thirteen known compounds (3–15) were isolated. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods such as nuclear magnetic resonance (1D NMR and 2D NMR), high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectra (HR-ESI-MS), optical rotatory dispersion (ORD) and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). All of them were assessed for their antioxidant activities through ABTS, DPPH and PTIO methodologies, and evaluated for inhibitory activities against two enzymes (mushroom tyrosinase and acetylcholinesterase). As a result, compounds 3–6, 10 and 13 exhibited evident antioxidant activities. Meanwhile, compounds 5, 10 and 13 showed the most potent tyrosinase inhibitory activities, with IC50 of 0.64, 0.65 and 0.59 mM, and compared with the positive control of 0.63 mM (kojic acid). In the initial concentration of 1 mg/mL, compounds 3, 5 and 6 demonstrated moderate inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase with 85.27 ± 0.06%, 83.65 ± 0.48% and 82.21 ± 0.09%, respectively, compared with the positive control of 91.17 ± 0.23% (donepezil). These bioactive components could be promising antioxidants, tyrosinase and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities)
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23 pages, 7810 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Antifungal, Antioxidant, and Anti-Diabetic Potential of the Essential Oil of Curcuma longa Leaves from the North-Western Himalayas by In Vitro and In Silico Analysis
by Nitin Sharma, Nidhi Gupta, Raha Orfali, Vikas Kumar, Chirag N. Patel, Jiangnan Peng and Shagufta Perveen
Molecules 2022, 27(22), 7664; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27227664 - 8 Nov 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2235
Abstract
Essential oils (EOs) have gained immense popularity due to considerable interest in the health, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity and the anti-diabetic potential of Curcuma longa leaf (CLO) essential oil. Further, major phytocompounds [...] Read more.
Essential oils (EOs) have gained immense popularity due to considerable interest in the health, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The present study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity and the anti-diabetic potential of Curcuma longa leaf (CLO) essential oil. Further, major phytocompounds of CLO were analyzed for their in-silico interactions with antifungal, antioxidant, and anti-diabetic proteins. CLO was found to have a strong antifungal activity against the tested Candida species with zone of inhibition (ZOI)-11.5 ± 0.71 mm to 13 ± 1.41 mm and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was 0.63%. CLO also showed antioxidant activity, with IC50 values of 5.85 ± 1.61 µg/mL using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay and 32.92 ± 0.64 µM using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. CLO also showed anti-diabetic activity with an IC50 of 43.06 ± 1.24 µg/mL as compared to metformin (half maximal inhibitory concentration, IC50-16.503 ± 0.66 µg/mL). Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of CLO showed the presence of (-)-zingiberene (17.84%); 3,7-cyclodecadien-1-one, 3,7-dimethyl-10-(1-methylethylidene)-(15.31%); cyclohexene, 4-methyl-3-(1-methylethylidene) (12.47%); and (+)-4-Carene (11.89%) as major phytocompounds. Molecular docking of these compounds with antifungal proteins (cytochrome P450 14 alpha-sterol demethylase, PDB ID: 1EA1, and N-myristoyl transferase, PDB ID: 1IYL), antioxidant (human peroxiredoxin 5, PDB ID: 1HD2), and anti-diabetic proteins (human pancreatic alpha-amylase, PDB ID: 1HNY) showed strong binding of 3,7-cyclodecadien-1-one with all the selected protein targets. Furthermore, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for a 100 ns time scale revealed that most of the key contacts of target proteins were retained throughout the simulation trajectories. Binding free energy calculations using molecular mechanics generalized born surface area (MM/GBSA), and drug-likeness and toxicity analysis also proved the potential for 3,7-cyclodecadien-1-one, 3,7-dimethyl-10-(1-methylethylidene) to replace toxic synthetic drugs and act as natural antioxidants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities)
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17 pages, 2644 KiB  
Article
Antiglioma Natural Products from the Marine-Associated Fungus Penicillium sp. ZZ1750
by Kuo Yong, Sidra Kaleem, Mingzhu Ma, Xiaoyuan Lian and Zhizhen Zhang
Molecules 2022, 27(20), 7099; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27207099 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1518
Abstract
Marine-derived Penicillium fungi are one of the most important sources for the discovery of new bioactive natural products. This study characterized the isolation, structures, and antiglioma activities of twelve compounds, including three novel ones—penipyridinone B (1), 11S-(−)-penilloid A ( [...] Read more.
Marine-derived Penicillium fungi are one of the most important sources for the discovery of new bioactive natural products. This study characterized the isolation, structures, and antiglioma activities of twelve compounds, including three novel ones—penipyridinone B (1), 11S-(−)-penilloid A (2), and 11R,14E-(+)-penilloid A (3)—from the marine fungus Penicillium sp. ZZ1750. The structures of the novel compounds were determined via extensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analyses, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (HRESIMS) data, Mosher’s method, optical rotation (OR) calculations, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Penipyridinone B represents the first example of its structural type and showed potent antiglioma activity, with IC50 values of 2.45 μM for U87MG cells and 11.40 μM for U251 cells. The known compounds of questiomycin A (9) and xanthocillin X (10) also showed antiproliferative activity against both U87MG and U251 cells, with IC50 values of 13.65 μM to 22.56 μM. The antiglioma activity of questiomycin A and xanthocillin X may be related to the promotion of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and the enhancement of caspase-3 enzyme activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products: Extraction, Separation, Structure Elucidation and Biological Activities)
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