Waste and By-Products from Agricultural Production for Innovative Health Applications, Second Edition
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2025) | Viewed by 666
Special Issue Editors
Interests: botanical and phytochemical characterization of medicinal plants and agricultural by-products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: pharma-toxicological and phytochemical evaluation of medicinal plant and herbal extract activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to submit original articles to this Special Issue, titled “Waste and By-Products from Agricultural Production for Innovative Health Applications, Second Edition”.
This Special Issue (SI) aims to highlight all aspects related to preparation, extraction, phytochemical, and pharmacotoxicological investigations of plant material derived from high-quality waste by-products of medicinal and food plants. The aim of this SI is to focus on the new worldwide research interest in the valorization of productive chains that are improvable in terms of circular economy and sustainability. This SI will consider studies that are related to this theme from multiple points of view, specifically, extract optimization, with particular regard to biocompatible solvents and processes, comparative studies of extraction techniques, and their pharmacotoxicological impact on biological systems and human and animal health.
Manuscripts describing at least one of the following topics are welcome:
- Descriptions of crude extracts, where the fingerprint analysis of secondary metabolites is an essential requirement;
- Pharmacotoxicological investigations performed at multiple levels (in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies). Animal and clinical trials are welcome, although authorization for experimental procedures and/or the blank informed consent form should be provided upon submission;
- Studies about isolated compounds from plant material in comparison to the crude extract.
The correct identification of the active components of extracts obtained from natural sources is a key part of scientific information; thus, the journal will not accept papers reporting only the activity of extracts but lacking any chemical characterization of their components. Reports on previously undescribed compounds must include 1H as well as 13C and/or the key 2D NMR spectra described in the text. The identification of known compounds in extracts must be safely supported with chromatographic and spectroscopic data (e.g., LC/GC retention times and/or UV, mass spectra), as well as a comparison with the data of authentic samples or previously published values. In particular, identification based on GC–MS must additionally be supported by appropriate experimentally determined and theoretical retention indices. When previously reported compounds are isolated and used in biological activity assays, the 1H NMR spectrum should be given in the supplementary data as proof of purity. Authors should consider very carefully the potential sources of artifacts and contaminants resulting from extraction procedures or sample handling.
Finally, investigative and applicative potentials should not be limited to the sole chemical characterizations of plant-derived extracts, and the submission of manuscripts suggesting new applicative fields for previously characterized extracts is encouraged.
Prof. Dr. Luigi Menghini
Dr. Claudio Ferrante
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
- botanical characterization
- pharmacological activity
- ecotoxicological fingerprint
- phytochemistry
- analytical methods
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