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Application of Analytical Methods in Food, Drug, and Natural Products Research: Volume II

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 2687

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Via Vetoio Coppito, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Interests: chromatographic analysis; application of chemometrics to data analysis and optimization; quantitative structure-property relationship methodology; food analysis; food traceability
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products, foods, and drugs are part of our daily lives, and, often, the boundary between one another is blurred. Traditionally, natural products have been used as possible alternatives to drugs, but they have attained increasing attention in the past few years. Today, natural products can be found in different areas, e.g., in cosmetics, for exploiting their potential beneficial effects, or in pharmaceutical formulations, for integrating possible deficiencies, to mention but a few fields of their application. Food can be viewed as a particular type of natural product. In fact, even in the gastronomic sector, there is growing interest in organic products, grown and harvested following environmentally friendly procedures. This interest in high-quality foodstuffs and natural products highlights the awareness of their use and assumptions regarding their salubrious effects on consumers. Despite the clear benefits that food and natural products can provide, there are situations in which it is necessary to develop synthetic pharmaceutical drugs. Consequently, on one hand, it is of interest to understand the characteristics and properties of food and natural products; on the other, it is still necessary for old and new drugs to be studied and developed to expand our resources for treating diseases and ailments. In light of these considerations, it is clear that analytical chemistry has a key role to play. It is its task to investigate these substances, characterize their properties, and evaluate any advantages or disadvantages of their intake.

The present Special Issue rests on this rationale and aims at collecting papers on the applications of analytical methodologies finalized for the characterization of food, natural products, and drugs. In light of this, the submission of research focused on the use of analytical tools to assess these products is highly encouraged. If they cover the same area of interest, reviews that provide an overview of the latest trends in this regard are also very welcome.

Dr. Alessandra Biancolillo
Prof. Dr. Angelo Antonio D'Archivio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • food characterization
  • food quality check
  • natural products characterization
  • natural products’ properties
  • novel analytical methods in food/natural products analysis
  • drugs characterization
  • drugs quality check

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 9523 KiB  
Article
Two Small Molecule Drugs with Topical Applications, Diflunisal and Naphazoline, and Their Potentially Toxic Photodegradants: Analysis by Chemical and Biological Methods
by Karolina Lejwoda, Anna Gumieniczek, Agata Filip and Beata Naumczuk
Molecules 2024, 29(17), 4122; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29174122 - 30 Aug 2024
Viewed by 245
Abstract
Because of their topical application in patients and meaningful UV/VIS absorptive properties, the degradation and potential toxicity under irradiation of diflunisal (DIF) and naphazoline (NAF) were studied. In addition, the impact of pH on their photostability was examined, showing the highest degradation of [...] Read more.
Because of their topical application in patients and meaningful UV/VIS absorptive properties, the degradation and potential toxicity under irradiation of diflunisal (DIF) and naphazoline (NAF) were studied. In addition, the impact of pH on their photostability was examined, showing the highest degradation of acidic DIF at pH 1 and 13 and the highest degradation of basic NAF at pH below 7. An LC–UV analysis and chemical tests showed the first-order kinetics for their degradation and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). A UPLC-HRMS/MS analysis allowed us to identify four degradants of DIF (from DD-1 to DD-4) and six degradants of NAF (from ND-1 to ND-6). When Toxtree software was used, a high class III of toxicity was observed for DD-2, DD-3, and DD-4, and for all the NAF degradants. Furthermore, the ND-2 product, i.e., 2-[(1-methylnaphthalen-2-yl)methyl]-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole, was shown to present medium mutagenic and high tumorigenic effects according to OSIRIS Property Explorer. In addition, two in vitro tests on BALB/c 3T3 mouse fibroblasts showed a phototoxic effect of DIF and NAF at the lowest concentrations tested, i.e., 5 µg/mL. Thus, our present results could be useful to design further phototoxicity studies for DIF and NAF to minimize the risk of phototoxicity due to their photodegradation. Full article
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23 pages, 3455 KiB  
Article
Quality Marker Discovery and Quality Evaluation of Eucommia ulmoides Pollen Using UPLC-QTOF-MS Combined with a DPPH-HPLC Antioxidant Activity Screening Method
by Fengqian Guo, Yichun Yang, Yu Duan, Chun Li, Huimin Gao, Hongyu Liu, Qiping Cui, Zhongyuan Guo, Xiaoqian Liu and Zhimin Wang
Molecules 2023, 28(13), 5288; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28135288 - 7 Jul 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1631
Abstract
Pollen, as an important component of Eucommia ulmoides (EUP), is rich in nutrients and is receiving increasing attention. At present, there are no reports on research related to the chemical composition and quality standards of EUP, and there are significant quality differences and [...] Read more.
Pollen, as an important component of Eucommia ulmoides (EUP), is rich in nutrients and is receiving increasing attention. At present, there are no reports on research related to the chemical composition and quality standards of EUP, and there are significant quality differences and counterfeit phenomena in the market. This study used a UPLC-QTOF-MS system to identify 49 chemical components in EUP for the first time. In the second step, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-HPLC antioxidant activity screening technology was used to identify the main active components of EUP, quercetin-3-O-sophoroside (QSH), quercetin-3-O-sambubioside (QSB), and quercetin 3-O-neohesperidoside (QNH), and their purification, preparation, and structure identification were carried out. Third, molecular docking was used to predict the activity of these components. Fourth, the intracellular ROS generation model of RAW264.7 induced by H2O2 was used to verify and evaluate the activity of candidate active ingredients to determine their feasibility as Q-markers. Finally, a quality control method for EUP was constructed using the three selected components as Q-markers. The identification of chemical components and the discovery, prediction, and confirmation of characteristic Q-markers in EUP provide important references for better research on EUP and the effective evaluation and control of its quality. This approach provides a new model for the quality control of novel foods or dietary supplements. Full article
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