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Agronomy
Special Issues
Analysis of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Promising Applications
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Analysis of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Promising Applications

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Horticultural and Floricultural Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 12935

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Célia Cabral

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR)/Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB)/Clinical Academic Center of Coimbra (CACC), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: ethnomedicine; phytochemistry; natural products; bioactive compounds; plant-based health solutions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Elisa Julião Campos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ophthalmology, Coimbra University, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: ocular pathologies; nanomedicine; innovative strategies; monitoring, diagnosis, treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 65%–80% of the population from developing countries use medicinal plants (MP) as remedies, which makes ethnomedicinal studies of significant value in terms of discovering contemporary drugs. Presently, 25% of herbal drugs in the modern pharmacopeia are plant based and several synthetic drugs are made using chemical substances isolated from plants. Nowadays, the role of medicinal plant species in traditional health practices has diverted the attention of researchers towards ethnomedicines. The development of standardized herbal medicines with proven efficacy and safety is an important approach to increase people’s access to medicines and offer new therapeutic options. Following EU guidelines for the approval of herbal traditional medicines, it is fundamental to have pharmacological effects and/or proven efficacy, considering the usage and long-established experience. Furthermore, bibliographic data or expert opinions that prove that the drug has been used therapeutically in the previous 30 years are mandatory, with this being at least 15 years of use for EU member states.

Frequently, medicinal plants face severe environmental stresses (such as, altitude, salinity, drought, nutrient limitation, substrate instability, sand burial, wind abrasion, erosion of the coastline, storms, fire), which lead to the development of adaptations, including the production of secondary metabolites with a wide range of interesting bioactivities and a huge range of potential applications. 

Prof. Dr. Célia Cabral
Dr. Elisa Julião Campos
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. Agronomy 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

  • plant adaptations
  • natural products
  • secondary metabolites
  • analytical techniques
  • biological activities
  • plant-based health solutions
  • new drugs
  • nutraceuticals
  • cosmetics

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 561 KiB  
Article
Characterization and Antimicrobial Properties of Essential Oils from Four Wild Taxa of Lamiaceae Family Growing in Apulia
by Francesca Valerio, Giuseppe N. Mezzapesa, Ahmed Ghannouchi, Donato Mondelli, Antonio F. Logrieco and Enrico V. Perrino
Agronomy 2021, 11(7), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11071431 - 18 Jul 2021
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 5084
Abstract
Four taxa of the Lamiaceae family growing in Apulia (Clinopodium suaveolens, Satureja montana subsp. montana, Thymbra capitata, and Salvia fruticosa subsp. thomasii) that had not been previously studied for their potential use in the food sector, were analyzed for [...] Read more.
Four taxa of the Lamiaceae family growing in Apulia (Clinopodium suaveolens, Satureja montana subsp. montana, Thymbra capitata, and Salvia fruticosa subsp. thomasii) that had not been previously studied for their potential use in the food sector, were analyzed for their essential oils (EOs) composition and antioxidant and antimicrobial properties against some microorganisms, isolated from bread and bakery products, including molds (Aspergillus niger, Penicillium roqueforti) and spore-forming bacteria (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus subtilis). Two different sites were considered for each plant species, and the strongest antimicrobial EOs, which were active against all of the microorganisms tested, were those from one S. montana subsp. montana sample (Sm2) and both T. capitata EOs (Tc1 and Tc2) with Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values ranging between 0.093% and 0.375% (v/v) against molds, while higher values were registered for bacteria (0.75–1%). In particular, the biological activity of EOs from T. capitata and S. montana subsp. montana was maybe due to the high amount of thymol and carvacrol, which were also responsible for the highest antioxidant activity. S. fruticosa subsp. thomasii EOs had different chemical profiles but showed only a slight antibacterial effect and no antifungal activity. C. suaveolens showed no significant changes between EOs with an interesting antifungal activity (MIC 0.093%÷0.187% v/v), which may be due to the presence of pulegone. These plant species can be considered as promising sources of bioactive compounds to be exploited as biopreservatives in bread and bakery products mainly considering the low concentration needed to inhibit microorganism’s growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Promising Applications)
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17 pages, 1272 KiB  
Article
Physicochemical Characterization of Crithmum maritimum L. and Daucus carota subsp. gummifer (Syme) Hook.fil. and Their Antimicrobial Activity against Apple Tree and Grapevine Phytopathogens
by Eva Sánchez-Hernández, Laura Buzón-Durán, Celia Andrés-Juan, Belén Lorenzo-Vidal, Jesús Martín-Gil and Pablo Martín-Ramos
Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 886; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050886 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3569
Abstract
Crithmum maritimum and Daucus carota subsp. gummifer are two species of the Apiaceae family that share multiple characteristics: both are halophitic, live on cliffs in the same geographic habitats, and are edible. While C. maritimum is rich in essential oils and flavonoids, D. [...] Read more.
Crithmum maritimum and Daucus carota subsp. gummifer are two species of the Apiaceae family that share multiple characteristics: both are halophitic, live on cliffs in the same geographic habitats, and are edible. While C. maritimum is rich in essential oils and flavonoids, D. carota is rich in terpenes and a gum producer. In the work presented herein, the biomass of these two wild plants and the bioactive compounds present in their extracts have been studied by elemental and thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. To explore their bioactivities, both their hydroalcoholic extracts and their major constituents (apiole in C. maritimum and geranyl acetate in D. carota), either alone or in combination with chitosan oligomers, were assayed in vitro against bacterial and fungal pathogens that affect apple trees (Malus domestica) and grapevine (Vitis vinifera). Remarkable inhibition was observed against Erwinia amylovora, the causal agent of fire blight in apple; Xylophilus ampelinus [syn. Erwinia vitivora], the causal agent of bacterial blight of grapevine; and Diplodia seriata, a virulent pathogen of grapevines that also causes canker, leaf spot and fruit rot of apple. In view of their effectiveness against these three phytopathogens, a potential application of these two medicinal plants in organic farming may be envisaged. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Promising Applications)
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17 pages, 323 KiB  
Article
Effect of Saline Conditions on Chemical Profile and the Bioactive Properties of Three Red-Colored Basil Cultivars
by Luís R. O. Cruz, Nikolaos Polyzos, Ângela Fernandes, Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Francesco Di Gioia, Maria Inês Dias, José Pinela, Marina Kostić, Marina Soković, Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira and Lillian Barros
Agronomy 2020, 10(11), 1824; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10111824 - 20 Nov 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3587
Abstract
The present study investigated the effect of salinity (Control: 1.8 dS/m, S1: 3.0 dS/m and S2: 4.5 dS/m) on the chemical composition and bioactive properties of three basil cultivars (Red Basil, Dark Opal Red and Basilico Rosso). Crop performance was not affected by [...] Read more.
The present study investigated the effect of salinity (Control: 1.8 dS/m, S1: 3.0 dS/m and S2: 4.5 dS/m) on the chemical composition and bioactive properties of three basil cultivars (Red Basil, Dark Opal Red and Basilico Rosso). Crop performance was not affected by increasing salinity in DoR and BaR. Fat, ash and carbohydrates content increased by salinity in DoR, whereas energetic value was negatively affected. Free sugars (total and individual compounds) increased under saline conditions (S2) in BaR, whereas reducing trends were observed for the main organic acids and tocopherols in all the cultivars. The major fatty acids were α-linolenic, linoleic and palmitic acids with no consistent salinity effects, while the richest polyphenols were sagerinic acid and eriodictyol-O-malonylhexoside. Finally, basil extracts showed moderate antioxidant and strong antifungal activity. In conclusion, salinity showed a genotype dependent effect on the chemical profile and bioactivities of the tested cultivars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analysis of Bioactive Compounds from Medicinal Plants and Promising Applications)
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