Plant Extracts in Focus: Chemical Characterization, Biological Activity, and Their Significance in Ethnomedicine and Practical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue of Plants, a renowned journal of botany.

Plant extracts are complex mixtures of secondary metabolites with beneficial properties, extracted from plant tissues using various solvents and extraction techniques. They can be obtained from both whole plants and specific plant parts. Due to their diverse bioactivities, they are widely applied in food, pharmacy, and cosmetics industries.

Plant extracts have been used for thousands of years in traditional herbal formulations. Recent research trends have enabled us to enhance our understanding of many traditionally used plants through modern techniques for the characterization of pure bioactive compounds. One or more of these compounds are synergistically responsible for the biological activity of the plant extract. To better understand the properties of bioactive compounds and their mechanisms of action, they should be isolated, identified, and characterized, before being applied as bioactive agents.

This Special Issue of Plants focuses on, but is not limited to, techniques for the isolation, separation and identification of bioactive compounds, chemical characterization and the evaluation of biological activities of plant extracts. We also welcome contributions addressing advancements in extraction methods, synergy between compounds, and innovative applications in industry, including functional foods, nutraceuticals, and sustainable cosmetics.

We encourage authors to submit both original research articles and comprehensive reviews that provide deeper insight into this dynamic field.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ana Alimpić Aradski
Dr. Katarina Šavikin
Dr. Mariana Oalđe Pavlović
Dr. Ivona Veličković
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.