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Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of the Natural Products of Fruits and...
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Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of the Natural Products of Fruits and Vegetables

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 12637

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Stefania Sut

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35122 Padua, Italy
Interests: chemical characterization of plants; HPLC; mass spectrometry; NMR; isolation of natural compounds

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is focused on the plants, fruits and vegetables, that are part of our daily and seasonal diets. Natural products, such as plant-derived compounds, are extremely rich sources of biomolecules. Fruits and vegetables contain several classes of secondary metabolites, and their phytochemistry is useful in studying the complex chemical compounds that can be different in different varieties, as well as under different growing conditions.  Moreover, the composition of plant materials can be correlated with their bioactivity. Natural compounds present in fruits and vegetables can exert specific effects, and nowadays the investigation of their bioactivity is a challenge. Thus, considering the high interest in plant-derived secondary metabolites in fruits and vegetables, this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas, aiming to contribute to the overall knowledge of food plants.

Dr. Stefania Sut
Guest Editor

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 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

  • food
  • natural compounds
  • bioassay
  • antioxidant
  • biodiversity
  • fruits
  • vegetables

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2886 KiB  
Article
Agronomic, Physicochemical, Aromatic and Sensory Characterization of Four Sweet Cherry Accessions of the Campania Region
by Anna Magri, Livia Malorni, Rosaria Cozzolino, Giuseppina Adiletta, Francesco Siano, Gianluca Picariello, Danilo Cice, Giuseppe Capriolo, Angelina Nunziata, Marisa Di Matteo and Milena Petriccione
Plants 2023, 12(3), 610; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12030610 - 30 Jan 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2046
Abstract
Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are greatly appreciated fruits worldwide due to their taste, color, nutritional value, and beneficial health effects. The characterization of autochthonous germplasm allows to identify genotypes that possess superior characteristics compared to standard cultivars. In this work, four [...] Read more.
Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are greatly appreciated fruits worldwide due to their taste, color, nutritional value, and beneficial health effects. The characterization of autochthonous germplasm allows to identify genotypes that possess superior characteristics compared to standard cultivars. In this work, four accessions of sweet cherry from the Campania region (Limoncella, Mulegnana Riccia, Mulegnana Nera and Montenero) were investigated for their morpho-physiological, qualitative, aromatic, and sensorial traits in comparison with two standard cultivars (Ferrovia and Lapins). A high variability in the pomological traits resulted among the samples. Montenero showed comparable fruit weight and titratable acidity to Ferrovia and Lapins, respectively. The highest total soluble solid content was detected in Mulegnana Riccia. A considerable variability in the skin and pulp color of the cherries was observed, varying from yellow-red in Limoncella to a dark red color in Montenero. Mulegnana Nera showed the highest content of polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic acid compared to the standard cultivars. Volatile organic compounds profile analysis identified 34 volatile compounds, 12 of which were observed at different concentrations in all the sweet cherry genotypes while the others were genotype-dependent. Conservation and cultivation of autochthonous accessions with suitable nutritional and morpho-physiologic characteristics promotes our agrobiodiversity knowledge and allows to better plan future breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of the Natural Products of Fruits and Vegetables)
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16 pages, 1487 KiB  
Article
Foliar Application of Silicon in Vitis vinifera: Targeted Metabolomics Analysis as a Tool to Investigate the Chemical Variations in Berries of Four Grapevine Cultivars
by Stefania Sut, Mario Malagoli and Stefano Dall’Acqua
Plants 2022, 11(21), 2998; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11212998 - 07 Nov 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1438
Abstract
Silicon (Si) is a beneficial element for the growth of various crops, but its effect on plant metabolism is still not completely elucidated. Even if Si is not classified as an essential element for plants, the literature has reported its beneficial effects in [...] Read more.
Silicon (Si) is a beneficial element for the growth of various crops, but its effect on plant metabolism is still not completely elucidated. Even if Si is not classified as an essential element for plants, the literature has reported its beneficial effects in a variety of species. In this work, the influence of Si foliar application on berry composition was evaluated on four grapevine cultivars. The berries of Teroldego and Oseleta (red grapes) and Garganega and Chardonnay (white grapes) were analyzed after foliar application of silicon by comparing the treated and control groups. A targeted metabolomic approach was used that focused on secondary metabolites, amino acids, sugars, and tartaric acid. Measurements were performed using liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector and mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-MSn), a LC-evaporative light scattering detector (ELDS), and LC-MS/MS methods specific for the analysis of each class of constituents. After the data collection, multivariate models, PCA, PLS-DA, OPLS-DA, were elaborated to evaluate the effect of Si application in the treated vs. control samples. Results were different for each grape cultivar. A significant increase in anthocyanins was observed in the Oseleta cultivar, with 0.48 mg g−1 FW in the untreated samples vs. 1.25 mg g−1 FW in the Si-treated samples. In Garganega, Si treatment was correlated with increased proline levels. In Chardonnay, the Si application was related to decreased tartaric acid. The results of this work show for the first time that Si induces cultivar specific changes in the berry composition in plants cultivated without an evident abiotic or biotic stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of the Natural Products of Fruits and Vegetables)
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23 pages, 2643 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Phytochemical Composition of Pomegranate Fruit Juices, Peels and Kernels: A Comparative Study on Four Cultivars Grown in Southern Italy
by Anna Montefusco, Miriana Durante, Danilo Migoni, Monica De Caroli, Riadh Ilahy, Zoltán Pék, Lajos Helyes, Francesco Paolo Fanizzi, Giovanni Mita, Gabriella Piro and Marcello Salvatore Lenucci
Plants 2021, 10(11), 2521; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10112521 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 8357
Abstract
The increasing popularity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), driven by the awareness of its nutraceutical properties and excellent environmental adaptability, is promoting a global expansion of its production area. This investigation reports the variability in the weight, moisture, pH, total soluble solids, [...] Read more.
The increasing popularity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), driven by the awareness of its nutraceutical properties and excellent environmental adaptability, is promoting a global expansion of its production area. This investigation reports the variability in the weight, moisture, pH, total soluble solids, carbohydrates, organic acids, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, antioxidant activities, and element composition of different fruit parts (juices, peels, and kernels) from four (Ako, Emek, Kamel, and Wonderful One) of the most widely cultivated Israeli pomegranate varieties in Salento (South Italy). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic characterization of different fruit parts from pomegranate cultivars grown simultaneously in the same orchard and subjected to identical agronomic and environmental conditions. Significant genotype-dependent variability was observed for many of the investigated parameters, though without any correlation among fruit parts. The levels of phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids of all samples were higher than the literature-reported data, as was the antioxidant activity. This is likely due to positive interactions among genotypes, the environment, and good agricultural practices. This study also confirms that pomegranate kernels and peels are, respectively, rich sources of punicic acid and phenols together, with several other bioactive molecules. However, the variability in their levels emphasizes the need for further research to better exploit their agro-industrial potential and thereby increase juice-production chain sustainability. This study will help to assist breeders and growers to respond to consumer and industrial preferences and encourage the development of biorefinery strategies for the utilization of pomegranate by-products as nutraceuticals or value-added ingredients for custom-tailored supplemented foods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Phytochemistry and Bioactivity of the Natural Products of Fruits and Vegetables)
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