Plant Waste Management: Bioactive Compounds with Therapeutic Role in Disease Prevention

Dear Colleagues,

In the scientific community, it has been well established that some plants have an important role in the prevention of some degenerative or cardiovascular diseases, resulting from their content in bioactive phytochemicals with several biological properties. Furthermore, the agro-food industry involves the production of large quantities of waste, also characterized by a valuable composition in phytochemicals with putative health-promoting qualities. Due to increasing production, disposal represents a growing problem since plant material is usually prone to microbial spoilage, thus limiting further exploitation. On the other hand, costs of drying, storage, and shipment of these materials are economically limiting factors. Therefore, agro-industrial waste is often utilized as feed or fertilizer, or as combustion feedstock for biofuels. Additionally, in light of the biological properties recently revealed, the search for natural bioactive compounds has drawn attention to these materials, namely phenolic compounds that may have an added-value to be used as an alternative to synthetic substances employed in distinct industries, such as the food, cosmetic, or pharmaceutical sectors, giving rise to sustainable agro-industrial activities.

Due to contemporary lifestyle issues, research on secondary metabolites with health-promoting effects in countering or slowing-down chronic and degenerative diseases (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases) have recognized that phenols and polyphenols are beneficial for human health, and are widespread and copious in dietary plant sources.

Taking all this into account, and considering not only the increasing trend to reduce the costs of industrial activities, but also the growing interest in the major therapeutic role that bioactive compounds from plant waste can play in disease prevention in humans, the main goal is the valorization of less-characterized plant wastes, of low commercial value, as a source of bioactive compounds with the capacity to influence health-related conditions.

Contributions to this Special Issue may cover all research aspects related to plant wastes, characterized to be all those parts from plants discarded during the agricultural and industrial processing, distribution and consumption stages of the food supply chain, which could be either edible or inedible, and that can be further processed and valorized in several ways; plant food residues (fruit and vegetable waste); characterization of their biological properties, including (but not limited to) methods for their extraction, purification, comprehensive profiling characterization, and quantification, as well as new technologies explored for more efficient extraction; beneficial biological properties that could potentially contribute to functional food and nutraceutical development; functional properties such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, antitumor, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and anticoagulant properties, among others; in vitro and in vivo model systems; clinical investigations; biotechnological applications of plant wastes, such as nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, and pharmaceuticals. Original research papers and review articles on these different areas are welcome.

Dr. Ana Barros
Dr. Irene Gouvinhas
Guest Editors

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