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Medicinal Value of Natural Bioactive Compounds and Plant Extracts, 3rd Edition

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 1451

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Magdalena Wójciak

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, Chodzki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Interests: secondary plant metabolites; plant extracts; biological activity of natural compounds; polyphenols; chromatography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marcin Feldo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Vascular Surgery, Medical University of Lublin, Staszica 11 St., 20-081 Lublin, Poland
Interests: flavonoids; diosmin; biologicl activity of plant metabolites chronic venous insufficiency; cardiovascular diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Ireneusz Sowa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: chemical structure; phytochemical analysis; chromatography; trace analysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of plants and plant-derived compounds continues to increase due to their broad range of activity, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunostimulating, protective, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties, alongside health-promoting effects and protection against the development of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. However, their potential for pharmaceutical, medicinal, and cosmetological applications is still unexplored. As such, this Special Issue aims to present new achievement in these fields.

Studies on the isolation, structural elucidation, and biological activity of natural constituents from plants, fungi, and algae, as well as on the activity and utility of well-characterized plant extracts, are appreciated.

Prof. Dr. Magdalena Wójciak
Dr. Marcin Feldo
Prof. Dr. Ireneusz Sowa
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

  • secondary plant metabolites
  • plant extracts
  • biological activity
  • polyphenols
  • alkaloids
  • in vitro, in vivo and study
  • cosmetology
  • ethnopharmacology
  • isolation and structure elucidation of plant metabolites

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 1880 KiB  
Article
Tyrosinase Inhibitors Among Flora of Lubelskie Region—Application of Bio-Chromatographic Approach and Zebrafish Model in Bioactivity Screening of Plant Material
by Kamila Kusio-Targońska, Nataliia Kosheva, Krzysztof Kamil Wojtanowski, Katarzyna Gaweł-Bęben, Dimitris Beis and Wirginia Kukula-Koch
Molecules 2025, 30(9), 1979; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30091979 - 29 Apr 2025
Abstract
The whitening potential of natural products is commonly assessed through spectrophotometric assays that colorimetrically measure the inhibitory effects on tyrosinase, a key enzyme in pigment formation. However, these assays fail to provide evidence about the input of individual components into the total activity [...] Read more.
The whitening potential of natural products is commonly assessed through spectrophotometric assays that colorimetrically measure the inhibitory effects on tyrosinase, a key enzyme in pigment formation. However, these assays fail to provide evidence about the input of individual components into the total activity of a mixture like plant extracts. This study introduced chromatographic methods to identify active natural products without isolating them from their mixtures. In this study, various plant extracts of differing polarities (EtOH, 50% EtOH, and HOH) from species growing in the Lubelskie region of Poland were evaluated for their ability to inhibit tyrosinase. The most active extract identified through spectrophotometric assays was a 50% EtOH extract from Matricaria recutita L. (Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert). Subsequent HPLC-MS analysis allowed for the identification of several active compounds from different classes, including organic acids, glycosylated phenolics, and phenolic acids that interacted with the enzyme. The bioactivity of individual components was confirmed through classical spectrophotometric assays, highlighting ferulic acid (IC50 = 0.484 µM), quinic acid (IC50 = 22.90 µM), and citric acid (IC50 = 24.18 µM) as three representatives of different classes of molecules with inhibitory potential. Furthermore, the whitening capacity of the chamomile extract was investigated in a zebrafish model, demonstrating effective pigmentation inhibition in Danio rerio larvae and validating the proposed chromatographic approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal Value of Natural Bioactive Compounds and Plant Extracts, 3rd Edition)
26 pages, 26334 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Structural Characteristics and Antioxidant Capacity of Pectins from Adenophora tetraphylla (Thunb.) Fisch.
by Su Yan, Shuo Zhang, Yuxuan Liu, Hao Zang, Lihui Zhang and Duo Liu
Molecules 2025, 30(6), 1301; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30061301 - 13 Mar 2025
Viewed by 344
Abstract
This research explores the structural composition and antioxidant abilities of pectins extracted from Adenophora tetraphylla (Thunb.) Fisch. Pectins, which are a complex group of acidic polysaccharides, exhibit various biological activities due to their unique structural domains. Following aqueous extraction, the pectins underwent sequential [...] Read more.
This research explores the structural composition and antioxidant abilities of pectins extracted from Adenophora tetraphylla (Thunb.) Fisch. Pectins, which are a complex group of acidic polysaccharides, exhibit various biological activities due to their unique structural domains. Following aqueous extraction, the pectins underwent sequential purification using ion exchange and gel permeation chromatography techniques. FT-IR and NMR techniques were used to elucidate their structural characteristics. The structural investigation was enhanced through the application of multiple characterization methods: Congo red binding analysis, circular dichroism measurements, and scanning electron microscopy imaging. Among the isolated pectins, WATP-A2b (22.5 kDa) and WATP-A3b (49.8 kDa) demonstrated significant variations in their structural domain organization, comprising different ratios of homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan I, and rhamnogalacturonan II. WATP-A3b displayed the most potent antioxidant performance among the tested pectins, effectively scavenging all three free radical species, which may be correlated with its higher galacturonic acid proportion and substantial rhamnogalacturonan I domain presence. These experimental results provide valuable insights into the correlation between structural characteristics and biological functions of pectins derived from Adenophora tetraphylla and their potential applications in healthcare. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal Value of Natural Bioactive Compounds and Plant Extracts, 3rd Edition)
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17 pages, 10367 KiB  
Article
Metabolite Profiling and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don Bulbs Derived from Tissue Culture
by Yu Wang, Jiamin Liu, Enhao Zhang, Yixi Yang, Qiuxia Lu, Ziwei Zhu and Rui Li
Molecules 2025, 30(3), 623; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30030623 - 31 Jan 2025
Viewed by 798
Abstract
Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (known as Chuan-Bei-Mu in Chinese) is a prominent medicinal plant utilized in traditional medicine for chronic respiratory ailments. It has garnered global acknowledgment because of its incorporation in many herbal preparations, resulting in a significant increase in demand and, [...] Read more.
Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (known as Chuan-Bei-Mu in Chinese) is a prominent medicinal plant utilized in traditional medicine for chronic respiratory ailments. It has garnered global acknowledgment because of its incorporation in many herbal preparations, resulting in a significant increase in demand and, consequently, leading to the decimation of wild populations. The study aimed to obtain regenerated plantlets of F. cirrhosa using in vitro propagation techniques and evaluate the accumulation of active metabolites and anti-inflammatory properties from in vitro and natural plant bulbs. UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS analysis identified 267 metabolites. Notably, 118 metabolites showed significantly different intensities between the wild bulbs (WBs) and in vitro tissue culture-regenerated bulbs (RBs). Higher edpetiline amounts were obtained from the RBs, and 14 steroid-related metabolites were elevated in RBs. Both RB and WB extracts had comparable anti-inflammatory abilities and significantly inhibited TNF-α-induced epithelial cell TSLP release. Subsequent mechanistic studies revealed that the efficacy of WB and RB extracts depended on the regulation of the TRPV1/NFAT pathway. These findings highlight the viability of in vitro regeneration and medicinal part replacement as sustainable alternatives to the existing detrimental overharvesting of wild Chuan-Bei-Mu populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal Value of Natural Bioactive Compounds and Plant Extracts, 3rd Edition)
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