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Plants
Special Issues
Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants
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Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1659

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Katarina Ŝavikin

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Guest Editor
Department for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Institute for Medicinal Plants Research “Dr. Josif Pančić”, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: phytotherapy; phytochemistry; ethnomedicine; phenolics; biological activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jelena Popović-Djordjević

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Guest Editor
Department for Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: phytochemistry; environmental science; agricultural plant science; environmental chemistry; food quality and safety; organic chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jelena Živković

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Guest Editor
Department for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Institute for Medicinal Plants Research “Dr. Josif Pančić”, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Interests: ethnobotany; natural product chemistry; chromatography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Medicinal plants are a rich source of structurally diverse natural products. These compounds display a wide array of biological activities (e.g., antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, enzyme inhibition, neuroprotection). Despite this promise, challenges remain in efficiently extracting, identifying and applying such molecules.

This Special Issue focuses on recent advances and innovative approaches in the extraction, isolation, characterization, and utilization of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants. We invite original research and review articles on medicinal plants that explore novel extraction methods, chemical profiling, and evaluation of functional properties using in vitro and in vivo studies, as well as the application of plant extracts in variety of products. In particular, we welcome submissions specially focusing on the application of medicinal plant extracts and products in the formulation of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, or functional food products.

Key topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Cutting-edge extraction and purification techniques for the preparation of extracts from medicinal plants
  • Identification and structural characterization of natural bioactive compounds
  • Innovative formulations for functional food products, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics
  • Sustainable and environmentally friendly extraction approaches
  • Bridging ethnopharmacological or traditional-use evidence with modern phytochemical, molecular biology and biotechnology approaches.
  • Valorisation of by-products or under-utilised medicinal plant species.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for advancing scientific understandings of plant-derived bioactives and their innovative applications across multiple industries.

Prof. Dr. Katarina Ŝavikin
Prof. Dr. Jelena Popović-Djordjević
Dr. Jelena Živković
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Plants 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 products
  • medicinal plants
  • bioactive compounds
  • extracts
  • bioactivity
  • food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic ingredients

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1673 KB  
Article
Underutilized Medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) Fruit: Polyphenol Extraction Optimization, Chemical Profiling, and In Vitro Pharmacological Evaluation
by Nenad Mićanović, Nada Ćujić Nikolić, Jelena Živković, Katarina Šavikin, Nemanja Krgović and Jelena Popović-Đorđević
Plants 2026, 15(8), 1169; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15081169 - 10 Apr 2026
Viewed by 660
Abstract
Medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) fruit presents a good source of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to optimize the traditional extraction method, maceration, in order to obtain extracts rich in polyphenols. The total phenolic compounds (TPC) from physiologically ripe (PRMFs) and consumable ripe [...] Read more.
Medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) fruit presents a good source of bioactive compounds. This study aimed to optimize the traditional extraction method, maceration, in order to obtain extracts rich in polyphenols. The total phenolic compounds (TPC) from physiologically ripe (PRMFs) and consumable ripe (CRMFs) medlar fruits were extracted to develop models with high accuracy and prediction capacity by response surface methodology (RSM). Furthermore, the main phenolic compounds in the extracts were quantified using HPLC, and the extracts were tested for antioxidant activity and hypoglycemic activity. The extracts were prepared according to a central composite design. The extraction parameters for both PRMFs and CRMFs were time (30–210 min), ethanol concentration (20–80%) and solid-to-solvent ratio (1:10–1:50). The obtained results indicated that the optimal conditions for the extraction were 210 min, 66.55% ethanol, and 1:50 solid-to-solvent ratio (PRMF), and 120 min, 74.96% ethanol, and 1:50 solid-to-solvent ratio (CRMF). Under the optimized conditions, values for TPC were in agreement with the values predicted by RSM. Isoquercitrin, rutin, procyanidin B2, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid were the most abundant compounds in both PRMF and CRMF optimized extracts. TPC, antioxidant activity, and inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes did not show significant differences (p > 0.05) among PRMF and CRMF extracts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants)
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32 pages, 6042 KB  
Article
Effect-Directed Analyses of Bioactives in Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle)
by Irena Vovk, Vesna Glavnik, Simona Strgulc Krajšek, Maja Bensa, Péter G. Ott and Ágnes M. Móricz
Plants 2026, 15(7), 1026; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15071026 - 26 Mar 2026
Viewed by 500
Abstract
This study evaluated activities of crude extracts from different parts of the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle) collected in Slovenia and Hungary, using effect-directed analyses based on hyphenation of high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and nine in vitro assays performed in [...] Read more.
This study evaluated activities of crude extracts from different parts of the tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle) collected in Slovenia and Hungary, using effect-directed analyses based on hyphenation of high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and nine in vitro assays performed in situ on chromatographic plates after the separation. HPTLC separation combined with a set of four antibacterial assays, two antifungal assays, and three enzyme inhibitor assays to evaluate the extracts of 15 plant parts: young shoots, young leaves, mature leaves, yellow leaves, petioles of leaves, petioles of male inflorescences, petioles of fruits, female inflorescences, young fruits, male inflorescences, mature male inflorescences, bark of 1–2-year branches, bark of 2-year branches, bark of tree trunk, and bark of roots. Antibacterial activities against Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Rhodococcus fascians) and Gram-negative bacteria (Aliivibrio fischeri, Pseudomonas syringae pv. maculicola (Psm)), as well as inhibition of enzymes α-glucosidase, lipase, and acetylcholinesterase, were observed for all extracts. Extracts differed in their antifungal activities. Extracts of young shoots, mature leaves, petioles of leaves, and bark of roots showed antifungal activity against plant pathogens Fusarium avenaceum and Bipolaris sorokiniana. Extracts of yellow leaves, male inflorescences, bark of 1–2-year branches, and bark of tree trunks were only active against F. avenaceum, whereas extracts of young leaves were only active against B. sorokiniana. This study is the first to report that A. altissima extracts exhibit (1) antifungal activity against F. avenaceum and B. sorokiniana; (2) antibacterial activity against A. fischeri, Psm, R. fascians, and B. subtilis (except leaves, bark of branches and bark of tree trunks); and (3) inhibitory activity toward lipase, α-glucosidase (except bark of tree trunks), and acetylcholinesterase (except bark of tree trunks). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Application of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants)
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