Special Issue "Plant Phytochemicals on Crop Protection and Drug Development"
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2023 | Viewed by 7839
Special Issue Editors

2. Institute for Research and Inovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, 4099-002 Porto, Portugal
Interests: evidence-based medicine; phytochemistry; phytopharmacology; drug discovery; natural products biochemistry; bioactive molecules; functional foods; nutraceuticals; fungal and bacterial infections; resistance to antimicrobials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Interests: chemistry of natural products; analytical methods; HPLC; LC-MS; polyphenols (lignans, flavonoids, phenolic acids); ethnopharmacology; history of pharmacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant-derived bioactives and their corresponding metabolites are gaining an increasing interest for clinical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and industrial purposes. Plants and their botanical formulations are composed of a rich pool of bioactive molecules with a plethora of potentialities and have been widely used throughout human history for multiple health affections. With the rising trend in the search for new drugs, natural products have been widely recognized as key sources of phytochemicals for drug development. Several methods/techniques have been developed in recent years to allow for a deeper study on the potentialities of natural products, along with high efforts to assist medicinal chemists in generating new synthetic organic compounds capable of being used alone or in combination with conventional drugs to optimize the therapeutic regimens and to decrease the likelihood of side effects occurring. On the other side, consumers have a high demand for healthier and safer products. Consequently, not only plant-derived bioactives but also functional foods have been increasingly introduced into the markets, promoting the products’ shelf-life extension, maintenance, and even the improvement of both their organoleptic and nutritional traits, along with the formulation of new added-value products and functional foods, among other biotechnological approaches. In this context and considering that most of these bioactive molecules—derived from the secondary metabolism of plants—are produced for the plant’s own protection, increasing attention has also been paid on their use for crop protection (including biocide formulation), improving general health, and both to prevent and as a complement to the treatment of diseases in human beings.
In this sense, the present Special Issue of Plants welcomes original articles, reviews, commentaries, critical perspectives, and short communications on the use of plant-derived bioactives for modern drug discovery and development, crop protection, and biotechnological processes.
Prof. Dr. Natália Cruz-Martins
Dr. Christophe Hano
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. 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 2400 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
- medicinal plants
- secondary metabolites
- biological effects
- crop protection
- drug discovery
Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Novel sources of bioactives used as plant biostimulants
Authors: María Dolores Torres Perez
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidade de Vigo, Spain
Abstract: Currently, increasing crop productivity, by reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, is one of the major concerns and challenges for a realistic transition. Therefore, the search for new sustainable strategies and green inputs will be essential to ensure global food security in the future. In this sense, the potential of natural products subjected to environmentally friendly technologies represent a great opportunity towards sustainable food systems. In this context, this work is focused on the use of soluble extracts recovered after hydrothermal treatments to assess their biostimulant potential.