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Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Plant and Natural...
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Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Plant and Natural Sources

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Analysis of Natural Products and Pharmaceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 3673

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Manuel Romero-Márquez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, 18014 Granada, Spain
2. Foundation for Biosanitary Research of Eastern Andalusia-Alejandro Otero (FIBAO), 18012 Granada, Spain
Interests: natural product; antioxidant; chromatography; nutritional biochemistry; redox biology; aging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alfonso Varela-López

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physiology, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology "José Mataix Verdú", Biomedical Research Centre, University of Granada, 18016 Armilla, Spain
Interests: aging; mitochondria; redox biology; foods; nutrition; age-related diseases; oral health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The extraction and characterization of bioactive compounds from plant and natural sources play a pivotal role in modern scientific research and various industries. Plant and natural sources have long been recognized as valuable reservoirs of bioactive compounds with diverse therapeutic properties. These compounds, such as polyphenols, alkaloids, and essential oils, have demonstrated significant potential in preventing and treating various diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disorders, and neurodegenerative conditions. Moreover, the growing interest in sustainable and natural products has amplified the importance of exploring bioactive compounds from plants, as they offer eco-friendly alternatives to synthetic pharmaceuticals.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to collect and share new findings or reviews focusing on, but not limited to, novel extraction procedures for bioactive compounds from various natural sources, innovative isolation or detection techniques, the intriguing bioactivity of natural products, and new applications in nutraceuticals for the bioactive molecules.

We encourage and welcome you to share your research findings or new ideas highlighting the Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds From Plant and Natural Sources.

Dr. José Manuel Romero-Márquez
Dr. Alfonso Varela-López
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 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. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • extraction
  • characterization
  • bioactive compounds
  • natural sources
  • nutraceutical
  • plant materia

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 1368 KiB  
Article
Green Extraction Combined with Chemometric Approach: Profiling Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Properties of Ten Species of the Lamiaceae Family
by Branislava Teofilović, Emilia Gligorić, Martina Ninić, Saša Vukmirović, Žarko Gagić, Nebojša Mandić-Kovačević, Biljana Tubić, Đorđe Đukanović and Nevena Grujić-Letić
Separations 2025, 12(6), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12060155 - 8 Jun 2025
Abstract
The pharmacological potential of Lamiaceae plants is primarily linked to their high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids, known for strong antioxidant properties. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of ten widely used Lamiaceae herbs—oregano, lavender, basil, savory, garden thyme, wild thyme, sage, [...] Read more.
The pharmacological potential of Lamiaceae plants is primarily linked to their high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids, known for strong antioxidant properties. This study investigated the antioxidant activity of ten widely used Lamiaceae herbs—oregano, lavender, basil, savory, garden thyme, wild thyme, sage, rosemary, lemon balm, and mint—prepared as traditional infusions and microwave-assisted extracts. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated using spectrophotometric assays, and total phenolics and flavonoids were quantified via spectrophotometry and HPLC. Chemometric analysis (PCA) was applied to explore correlations among antioxidant parameters. The results demonstrated excellent antioxidant activity across all samples. The IC50 for DPPH radicals was in the range from 3.73(0.13) to 8.03(0.17) μg/mL and that for ABTS radicals was from 2.89(0.12) to 8.55(0.34). The CUPRAC antioxidant assay delivered values in the range from 351.93(11.85) to 1129.68(44.46) μg TE/mg DE. The FRAP method produced values from 1.27(0.03) to 6.60(0.26) μmol Fe/mg DE. The presence of gallic acid was detected in all examined samples, with lemon balm and lavender exhibiting the highest concentrations across both applied extraction methods. Notably, lavender showed especially high levels of p-hydroxybenzoic acid and chlorogenic acid. Microwave-assisted extraction generally yielded higher levels of bioactive compounds compared to infusion. These findings highlight the potential of Lamiaceae herbal extracts, particularly those obtained through microwave-assisted extraction, as valuable sources of dietary antioxidants for everyday use. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Plant and Natural Sources)
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14 pages, 1004 KiB  
Article
Physicochemical and Phytochemical Determinations of Greek “Kollitsida’’ (Arctium lappa L.) from Different Regions and Evaluation of Its Antimicrobial Activity
by Dimitrios G. Lazaridis, Sokratis D. Giannoulis, Maria Simoni, Vassilios K. Karabagias, Nikolaos D. Andritsos, Vasileios Triantafyllidis and Ioannis K. Karabagias
Separations 2025, 12(6), 151; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12060151 - 4 Jun 2025
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Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate Greek Kollitsida root samples from different geographical regions based on physicochemical and antibacterial analyses. For this purpose, samples were treated with different solvents, deionized water (solvent A) and ethanol of grape origin (solvent B), to monitor if [...] Read more.
The present study aimed to investigate Greek Kollitsida root samples from different geographical regions based on physicochemical and antibacterial analyses. For this purpose, samples were treated with different solvents, deionized water (solvent A) and ethanol of grape origin (solvent B), to monitor if the physicochemical and phytochemical parameter values can be affected by the type of solvent. Results showed that the extraction solvent affected the physicochemical and phytochemical profile of Kollitsida. In addition, the aqueous and ethanolic extracts showed antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhimurium and Staphylococcus aureus, which was also affected by the geographical origin of Kollitsida samples. Finally, the application of multivariate analysis on the data obtained using deionized water or ethanol of grape origin as an extraction solvent for the analyses classified samples according to their geographical origin by 100%, using the cross-validation method of linear discriminant analysis. The study brings new knowledge regarding the physicochemical, phytochemical, and antibacterial profiles, along with the authenticity, of Greek Kollitsida. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Plant and Natural Sources)
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16 pages, 1297 KiB  
Article
Polyphenols Extraction from Different Grape Pomaces Using Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents
by Alessandro Frontini, Andrea Luvisi, Carmine Negro, Massimiliano Apollonio, Rita Accogli, Mariarosaria De Pascali and Luigi De Bellis
Separations 2024, 11(8), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11080241 - 8 Aug 2024
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2509
Abstract
Exploiting by-products from the oenological industry to extract antioxidant chemicals is a shared goal that combines the need to reduce the wine sector’s environmental impact with the need to improve the availability of these biomolecules, according to a circular economy approach. Natural deep [...] Read more.
Exploiting by-products from the oenological industry to extract antioxidant chemicals is a shared goal that combines the need to reduce the wine sector’s environmental impact with the need to improve the availability of these biomolecules, according to a circular economy approach. Natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) have recently captured researchers’ interest as a safer and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional solvents due to their effectiveness, low toxicity, and stability. In this work, we set out to investigate several NaDES for the extraction of phenolic chemicals from local monovarietal grape pomace resulting from different vinification procedures (including both red and rosé vinification of Negroamaro and Primitivo grapes; rosé vinification of Susumaniello grapes and white vinification of Chardonnay, Fiano and Malvasia bianca grapes), with the additional goal of generalizing the use of NaDES to extract chemicals of interest from organisms selected from the wide plant biodiversity. Three binary choline chloride-based NaDES (DES-Lac, DES-Tar, and DES-Gly, with lactic acid, tartaric acid, and glycerol as hydrogen bond donors, respectively) were compared to ethanol as a conventional solvent, and the extracts were evaluated using HPLC/MS and colorimetric techniques. The results revealed that each NaDES produces a substantially higher total phenolic yield than ethanol (up to 127.8 mg/g DW from Primitivo rosé grape pomace). DES-Lac and DES-Tar were more effective for anthocyanins extraction; the most abundant compound was malvidin 3-O-glucoside (highest extraction yield with DES-Lac from Susumaniello pomace: 29.4 mg/g DW). Regarding phenolic compounds, DES-Gly was the most effective NaDES producing results comparable to ethanol. Unexpectedly, Chardonnay pomace has the greatest content of astilbin. In most cases, grape pomace extracts obtained by rosé and white vinification provided the maximum yield. As a result, NaDES have emerged as a viable alternative to traditional organic solvent extraction techniques, allowing for higher (or equal) yields while significantly lowering costs, hazards, and environmental impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extraction and Characterization of Bioactive Compounds from Plant and Natural Sources)
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