Advances in Natural Polymers and Active Compounds: Extraction Methods and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Natural polymers (biopolymers) and (bio)active compounds derived from natural biomass can be obtained from a wide variety of natural, eco-friendly and biocompatible green sources, including plants, animals, microorganisms (bacteria, fungi), and algae in aquatic media, as well as from very diverse by-products and waste streams, by applying corresponding extraction (processing) procedures. Natural polymers are gaining interest among the research community as attractive materials with mechanical stability, film formation properties, a lack of toxicity, and a high compatibility and biocompatibility with the extra cellular matrix, and which are safe, low-cost, some of them exhibit a high antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities, etc. These lend themselves to a wide range of applications for agriculture (e.g., water holding agents), food (food supplements, nutraceutical beverages) and food packaging (active, smart, biodegradable, eco-friendly, edible, etc), biomedicine (greater cellular attachment and matrix deposition in anticancer therapy, bone tissue engineering, drug carriers/nanocarriers, etc.), cosmetics (for skin repair, regeneration and hydration), etc. They are classified mainly into three groups: polysaccharides, peptides, and polynucleotides.

(Bio)active compounds as natural antimicrobial/antioxidants of various origins are being developed for biopreservation, which includes plant-derived products (natural extracts, essential oils, polyphenolics, and plant antimicrobial peptides (pAMPs)), certain foods (such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and whole grains), animal-derived products (lysozymes, lactoperoxidase, lactoferrin, ovotransferrin, etc.), and microbial metabolites (nisin, natamycin, pullulan, ε-polylysine, organic acid, and others). Moreover, bioactive compounds extracted from the same natural sources as biopolymers are used for their valuable therapeutic biological properties and as antimicrobial agents to inhibit the harmful activity of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, and are especially known for their biocompatibility, renewability, and biodegradability, etc., having numerous applications. Bioactive compounds have actions in the body that may promote good health. They are being studied in the prevention of cancer, heart disease, and other diseases. Active agents are used in advanced polymeric materials to improve their functionality for food preservation, biomedicine, cosmetics as antimicrobials, antifungals, antioxidants, ethylene or oxygen scavengers, CO₂ emitters or scavengers, moisture scavengers, flavour emitters, etc. Natural extracts and essential oil (EO) vitamins, polyphenols, carotenoids, etc., are excellent for their various matrices to obtain biocomposites with special properties.

This Special Issue welcomes the submission of original articles or reviews from an extensive range of expertise in the field of natural polymers and natural active compounds with its widely ranging subject matter. It aims to advance understandings of the fundamental and technological aspects of the extraction of natural products, polymers, and active compounds, and their applications.

Prof. Dr. Cornelia Vasile
Dr. Gabriel Aguirre-Álvarez
Dr. Xiao-Feng Sun
Guest Editors

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