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Advances in Isolation, Identification and Biological Activity of Natural Products

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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 6449

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hyoung-Geun Kim

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Guest Editor

Graduate School of Biotechnology and Department of Oriental Medicinal Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Korea
Interests: natural product chemistry; analytical chemistry; isolation bioactive compounds technique; chemical structure identification using NMR, MS, and IR; spectroscopic techniques; medicinal plants; metabolic profiling; quality control

Prof. Dr. Nam In Baek

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Guest Editor

Graduate School of Biotechnology and Department of Oriental Medicinal Biotechnology, Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Korea
Interests: natural product chemistry; analytical chemistry; bioactive compound isolation techniques; chemical structure identification using NMR, MS, and IR; spectroscopic techniques; medicinal plants

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the recent research flow, the development of pharmaceuticals, foods, and cosmetics derived from natural products has developed exponentially. The obvious reason for this is the development of new instruments and methods. However, research on natural products is mostly at the level of extraction and fractionation. Therefore, research on the isolation and structural identification of new and bioactive compounds derived from natural products and the evaluation of the activity of isolated metabolites must be continuously developed.

This Special Issue aims to present new and diverse methods for the isolation of compounds from natural products, foods, and special crops; the structure identification of isolated metabolites using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR, MS, and FT-IR; qualitative and quantitative analysis using diverse analysis tools; and bioactivity studies of isolated metabolites. In particular, the submission of research works on isolation methods that have not been attempted before, the discovery of new compounds, and the discovery of new biological activities of isolated metabolites are very welcome. Similarly, submissions of original research papers, short communications, perspectives and comprehensive review papers are all welcome.

Dr. Hyoung-Geun Kim
Prof. Dr. Nam In Baek
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
bioactive compounds
biological activities
food metabolites
isolation and chemical structure identification of compounds
spectroscopic techniques
medicinal plants
microbial-derived metabolites

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2798 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimization, Probiotic Characteristics, and Rheological Properties of Exopolysaccharides from Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MC5

by Xuefang Zhao and Qi Liang

Molecules 2023, 28(6), 2463; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28062463 - 8 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1365

Abstract

This study optimized the exopolysaccharides (EPS) production for Lactiplantibacillus plantarum MC5 (Lp. plantarum MC5) and evaluated the resistance to human simulated digestive juices, antioxidant activity in vitro, and rheological properties of EPS-MC5. The results showed that maximum EPS production of 345.98 mg/L (about 1.5-old greater than the initial production) was obtained at optimal conditions of inoculum size (4.0%), incubation time (30 h), incubation temperature (34.0 °C), and initial pH value (6.40). Furthermore, the resisting-digestion capacity of EPS-MC5 after 180 min in α-amylase, simulated gastric juice (pH 2.0, 3.0, 4.0), and simulated intestinal juice (pH 6.8) was 98.59%, 98.62%, 98.78%, 98.86%, and 98.74%, respectively. In addition, the radical scavenging rates of DPPH•, ABTS•, •OH, and ferric-iron reducing power (OD₇₀₀) of EPS-MC5 were 73.33%, 87.74%, 46.07%, and 1.20, respectively. Furthermore, rheological results showed that the EPS-MC5 had a higher apparent viscosity (3.01 Pa) and shear stress (41.78 Pa), and the viscoelastic modulus (84.02 and 161.02 Pa at the shear frequency of 100 Hz). These results provide a new insight into the application of EPS in human health and functional foods, which could also improve theoretical guidance for the industrial application of EPS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Isolation, Identification and Biological Activity of Natural Products)

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9 pages, 557 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Triterpenoids from Lansium domesticum Corr. cv kokossan and Their Cytotoxic Activity

by Tri Mayanti, Zulfikar, Sarah Fawziah, Al Arofatus Naini, Rani Maharani, Kindi Farabi, Nurlelasari, Muhammad Yusuf, Desi Harneti, Dikdik Kurnia and Unang Supratman

Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2144; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052144 - 24 Feb 2023

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Abstract

Lansium domesticum Corr. is a member of the Meliaceae family that is widely spread in tropical and subtropical region of Asia and America. Traditionally, the fruit of this plant has been consumed because of its sweet taste. However, the fruit peels and the seeds of this plant have been rarely utilized. The previous chemical investigation of this plant showed the presence of secondary metabolites with many biological activities, including cytotoxic triterpenoid. Triterpenoids is a class of secondary metabolites which contain thirty carbon atoms in the main skeleton. The high modification of this type of compound, including the ring opening, highly oxygenated carbons, and the degradation of its carbon chain to give the nor-triterpenoid structure, is responsible for its cytotoxic activity. In this paper, we isolated and elucidated the chemical structure of two new onoceranoid triterpenes, kokosanolides E (1) and F (2), from the fruit peels of L. domesticum Corr., along with a new tetranortriterpenoid, kokosanolide G (3), from the seeds of L. domesticum Corr. The structural determination of compounds 1–3 was undertaken through FTIR spectroscopic analysis, 1D and 2D NMR, mass spectrometry, as well as through a comparison of the chemical shifts of the partial structures of compounds 1–3 with the literature data. The cytotoxic properties of compounds 1–3 were tested against MCF-7 breast cancer cells using the MTT assay. Moderate activity was shown by compounds 1 and 3, with IC₅₀ values of 45.90 and 18.41 μg/mL, respectively, while compound 2 showed no activity (IC₅₀ 168.20 μg/mL). For the onoceranoid-type triterpene, the high symmetrical structure of compound 1 is presumably the reason for its better cytotoxic activity compared with that of compound 2. Compound 3 showed moderate activity, mainly because of the presence of the furan ring, which, based on the literature, gives better cytotoxic activity in a tetranortriterpenoid-type structure. The findings of three new triterpenoid compounds from L. domesticum indicate the significant value of this plant as a source of new compounds. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Isolation, Identification and Biological Activity of Natural Products)

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17 pages, 1744 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chemical Constituents of Macaranga occidentalis, Antimicrobial and Chemophenetic Studies

by Viviane Flore Kamlo Kamso, Christophe Colombe Simo Fotso, Ines Michèle Kanko Mbekou, Billy Tchegnitegni Tousssie, Bruno Ndjakou Lenta, Fabrice Fekam Boyom, Norbert Sewald, Marcel Frese, Bonaventure Tchaleu Ngadjui and Ghislain Wabo Fotso

Molecules 2022, 27(24), 8820; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27248820 - 12 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1557

Abstract

Medicinal plants are known as sources of potential antimicrobial compounds belonging to different classes. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of the crude extract, fractions, and some isolated secondary metabolites from the leaves of Macaranga occidentalis, a Cameroonian medicinal plant traditionally used for the treatment of microbial infections. Repeated column chromatography of the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions led to the isolation of seventeen previously known compounds (1−17), among which three steroids (1−3), one triterpene (4), four flavonoids (5−8), two stilbenoids (9 and 10) four ellagic acid derivatives (11−14), one geraniinic acid derivative (15), one coumarine (16), and one glyceride (17). Their structures were elucidated mainly by means of extensive spectroscopic and spectrometric (1D and 2D NMR and, MS) analysis and comparison with the published data. The crude extract, fractions, and isolated compounds were all screened for their antimicrobial activity. None of the natural compounds was active against Candida strains. However, the crude extract, fractions, and compounds showed varying levels of antibacterial properties against at least one of the tested bacterial strains, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 250 to 1000 μg/mL. The n-butanol (n-BuOH) fraction was the most active against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, with an MIC value of 250 μg/mL. Among the isolated compounds, schweinfurthin B (10) exhibited the best activity against Staphylococcus aureus NR 46003 with a MIC value of 62.5 μg/mL. In addition, schweinfurthin O (9) and isomacarangin (6) also exhibited moderate activity against the same strain with a MIC value of 125 μg/mL. Therefore, pharmacomodulation was performed on compound 6 and three new semisynthetic derivatives (6a–c) were prepared by allylation and acetylation reactions and screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activity. None of the semisynthetic derivatives showed antimicrobial activity against the same tested strains. The chemophenetic significance of the isolated compounds is also discussed in this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Isolation, Identification and Biological Activity of Natural Products)

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Review

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35 pages, 3976 KiB

Open AccessReview

Anti-Inflammatory and Cytotoxic Activities of Clerodane-Type Diterpenes

by Rubria Marlen Martínez-Casares, Liliana Hernández-Vázquez, Angelica Mandujano, Leonor Sánchez-Pérez, Salud Pérez-Gutiérrez and Julia Pérez-Ramos

Molecules 2023, 28(12), 4744; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28124744 - 13 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1324

Abstract

The secondary metabolites of clerodane diterpenoids have been found in several plant species from various families and in other organisms. In this review, we included articles on clerodanes and neo-clerodanes with cytotoxic or anti-inflammatory activity from 2015 to February 2023. A search was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct, using the keywords clerodanes or neo-clerodanes with cytotoxicity or anti-inflammatory activity. In this work, we present studies on these diterpenes with anti-inflammatory effects from 18 species belonging to 7 families and those with cytotoxic activity from 25 species belonging to 9 families. These plants are mostly from the Lamiaceae, Salicaceae, Menispermaceae and Euphorbiaceae families. In summary, clerodane diterpenes have activity against different cell cancer lines. Specific antiproliferative mechanisms related to the wide range of clerodanes known today have been described, since many of these compounds have been identified, some of which we barely know their properties. It is very possible that there are even more compounds than those described today, in such a way that makes it an open field to discover. Furthermore, some diterpenes presented in this review have already-known therapeutic targets, and therefore, their potential adverse effects can be predicted in some way. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Isolation, Identification and Biological Activity of Natural Products)

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