Plant Extracts as Source of Bioactive Compounds and Their Beneficial Effects on Human Health
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Phytochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 20348
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant extract; polyphenols; neurodegeneration; human health; microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: medicinal plants; extraction and isolation of compounds of natural origin; phytochemical analysis; biological activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: medicinal and aromatic plants; ethnobotanical uses; plant extracts; bioactive compounds; polyphenols; nutraceuticals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The protective effects of plants and their extracts on human health are well known, and knowledge on them has increased over the last two decades. These effects are justified by the countless beneficial properties recognized in plants, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and anticancer properties, regulating the extra- and intercellular signaling pathways. Most of these activities are due to the components present in plants, such as their secondary metabolism products, polyphenols. Polyphenols consist, as the name indicates, of a set of phenolic structures, in which an OH group replaces a benzene hydrogen atom and whose chemical formula is C6H5OH. For this reason, it would be interesting to discover the properties of a plant species, obtain its extract from the main organs of the plant under examination, and test it, accordingly, on in vitro, in vivo, or clinical models in pathological conditions. It is important to stress, however, that not only polyphenols, but also all of the components of the extract as a whole are responsible for the beneficial properties induced by plants. Therefore, it is important to correctly know the composition of the extract, which should be quite unchanged, despite some variables (seasonality, composition, or pH of the soil in which the plant lives, the method of sampling the organ from which the extract is to be obtained, the exposure of the plant to sunlight, etc.). A standard extraction protocol should be recognized and used unequivocally, in order to obtain a highly reliable extract. Another objective variable related to the use of plant extracts is their bioavailability in the body. For example, after ingestion, their various components can be transformed by enzymatic activity, before being partially or totally absorbed in the small intestine or colon, where they are also subject to the action of the intestinal microbiota. Finally, the third step would be to use plant extracts as potential substitutes or adjuvants of drug therapy. All synthetic drugs currently in use, in addition to carrying out the action for which they are taken, develop side effects that often lead to drug replacement, dosage reduction, or an impaired quality of life. The purpose of this Special Issue of Plants is to explore one or more of the following questions:
1) Is it possible to develop standardized protocols to obtain plant extracts? It would be interesting to describe and make known the operational strategies to the scientific community.
2) Is it possible to trace the bioavailability of plant extracts qualitatively and quantitatively? It would be important to know if something similar has already been carried out.
3) Is it possible to test the effects of plant extracts on human health in the event of proven disease? It would be interesting to know what is already known scientifically.
Dr. Jessica Maiuolo
Dr. Vincenzo Musolino
Dr. Natalizia Miceli
Guest Editors
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