Chemical Composition of Plant Extracts to Understand Their Pharmacological and Toxicological Properties

Dear Colleagues, 

Plants have been used since the emergence of the first human societies, and have served as a source of food and medicines. The exploration of the edible and medicinal properties of plants was initially based on the accumulation of empirical knowledge that inherently also allowed for the identification of those plants with toxic properties. This general classification of plants according to their properties remains even in the present day.

The current trends in the study of the properties of plants and their plausible commercial/industrial uses are diverse and include biotechnological, biosynthetic, chemical, ecological, pharmacological, and toxicological focusses, among others, and can be accomplished from a perspective of “omics” sciences. Considering that drug discovery is a slow process, several analytical, pharmacological, and bioinformatic tools have been developed to accelerate it, allowing for the analysis of massive data.

Plant extracts are considered to be complex mixtures, and they constitute the starting point to study the edible, medicinal, and toxicological properties of plants. The direct analysis of extracts serves to different purposes, as the following: the isolation of their specialized metabolites; the quantification of bioactive compounds in phytomedicines and dietary supplements; the search for potential sources of bioactive compounds for treatment of a specific disease/ailment in models in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo, and in silico; the development of inhibitors of molecular targets for therapeutic applications; and the understanding of the mechanisms underlying of toxicity induced by plant extracts; among other.

In this Special Issue, research articles, reviews, and short communications concerning the study of the chemical composition of plant extracts that provide information/evidence to understand the pharmacological and toxicological properties of plants are welcome.

Dr. Elihú Bautista
Dr. Daniela Joyce Trujillo Silva
Guest Editors

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